#idk if it’s even hit me yet i’m just watching from a distance

[streetslost]

📱- when you’re so desensitized to tumblr fuckery at this point and also there’s a deep part of you that hopes the site nukes itself because that’ll be the only way i’m free

[incognit0slut]

REFLECTED BLISS

When you discover a mirror attached to the wall in your hotel room, Spencer decides to take full advantage of it.

Warnings: (18+ MDNI) afab reader, established relationship but they're being sneaky, fingering, guided masturbation (f), unprotected sex with a mirror involved, creampie, and spencer being spencer a.k.a he uses fun facts as dirty talk ~3.9k words A/n: Told myself to make this 'cute and sexy and less filthy' but… idk man, from a scale to 1 to 10 how filthy is this be honest Requested: Here

“Oh my god.”

“What? What is it?”

“Spence,” you urged, pulling him into the room. “You need to see this.”

He followed you, stepping further in, and his eyes widened as they landed on the wall opposite the bed—a wall that wasn't just a wall, but a vast, floor-to-ceiling mirror reflecting the entire room. “That’s… interesting.”

“Interesting?” You mocked before peaking your head out the door, making sure no one was in sight before clicking it shut. “It’s terrifying.”

His duffel bag hit the carpet floor. “You’re scared of a mirror?”

“No,” you responded, placing your own bag alongside his. “I’m scared of the idea of it. I mean, look at it—it’s like it sees everything.” 

“It’s glass. It can’t actually see us.”

“Yeah, but still,” you said, crossing your arms defensively. “It’s placed right in front of the bed. Who would want to watch themselves sleeping?”

His eyes shifted back and forth between the mirror and the bed, the reflection capturing every detail of the room, including the bed’s plush pillows and crisp white sheets. “You know, I don’t think it’s used for sleeping.”

“What do you mean?”

His lips quirked up into an amused smile. “Think about it. Why would anyone want a mirror like this in front of their bed? It’s not for sleeping, it’s for... well, other activities.”

You felt your cheeks heat up as realization dawned. “Oh, you mean—that’s even worse!”

He laughed, closing the distance between you, his arms resting comfortably around your waist. “Actually, visual stimulation can significantly enhance sexual experiences. Mirrors can add a whole new level of excitement by engaging our sense of sight.”

Your face flushed even more. “I… did not know that.”

“Yeah, it’s all about the brain processing the stimuli.” He pulled you closer, his voice dropping to a softer, more intimate tone. “It can heighten our arousal and make the experience more intense.”

You could feel your heart hammering against your chest, knowing what he was trying to do. Every time he initiated something intimate, it never failed to fluster you. There was a time when Spencer was uncertain and hesitant about these aspects of your relationship. But the more you spent time together, sneaking into each other’s hotel rooms from time to time, the more his confidence grew.

Now, you could feel it in the way he was holding you, his arms wrapped securely around your waist. His touch was firm yet gentle, and the way he looked down at you, his eyes filled with warmth and a hint of mischief, was sending you into a frenzy. There was something different in his gaze—a new assurance, a quiet strength that made your pulse quicken.

He smiled down at you, a secretive, knowing smile as if he held a secret of his own, one that he was eager to share with you in these private moments. You swallowed hard, trying to steady your breathing. 

“I guess that makes sense.”

His smile widened. “So, while the mirror might seem creepy at first, it actually has its perks.”

“Perks, huh?”

“Absolutely.”

You pulled back slightly, eyes narrowing at him. “Are you trying to convince me to have sex in front of the mirror?”

“Is it working?”

You couldn’t stop the laugh escaping your lips. “A little.”

He laughed along with you, the sound warm and infectious. “Can I convince you more?”

But before you could answer him, his lips were already down your neck, drawing a sigh from you. You tilted your head to grant him better access. His hands slid around your waist, pulling you closer until you could feel the steady beat of his heart against yours.

“I thought—” You let out a moan when he sucked a spot just below your ear. “I thought we agreed… no funny business tonight.”

“Was that really your plan when you begged me to stay with you?”

“I didn’t beg,” you defended. “You offered. I told you this town gave me the creeps and you said you’d sneak in my room to keep me company.”

His lips paused momentarily, hovering just over your pulse. 

“You’re right, you didn’t beg,” he conceded with a soft chuckle, his breath tickling your skin. “But you have to admit, the offer was mutually beneficial.”

“Mutually beneficial? Is that what we’re calling it?”

“It’s accurate,” he murmured, drawing back to look at you. “And I seem to remember someone saying how much they appreciated the company... especially at night.”

You could feel the smile forming on your lips, even as you tried to maintain a semblance of indignation. “Well, maybe I did say that. But that doesn’t mean—”

His lips cut you off, soft and persuasive, making it impossible to continue as your protests melted away. The kiss deepened, driven by a mixture of long-held desire and the thrill of his hard body pressed against your soft frame.

“You make a pretty convincing argument,” you murmured against his lips, your earlier resolve softening.

He pulled away from you before taking your hand in his. “Come here.”

He led you gently towards the mirror, the expanse of glass revealing your intertwined figures in the softly lit room.

“Oh my god, we’re actually doing this?”

He positioned you in front of him. "Only if you're comfortable.”

You watched your reflections, the way his hands settled more firmly around your waist, how your bodies fit together so perfectly. Your gaze met him through the mirror.

“Convince me more.”

He smiled and wrapped his arms around you, fingers hovering above the buttons of your shirt. 

“Well," he began. "Did you know that mirrors don't just reflect visuals? They can also amplify emotions.”

You watched him in the reflection, the depth of his clear, brown eyes pulling you deeper into the moment. "It's like being both the spectator and the participant," he continued, his fingers deftly beginning to unbutton your shirt with gentle precision. "It makes everything more real, more intimate.”

You found yourself nodding, drawn in by both his words and the tender yet confident way he handled you. 

"So," he concluded as he folded back the fabric, revealing more of you to the cool air of the room and the warm glow of his gaze, "If we're talking about enhancing our senses, using a mirror could make every touch, every kiss, feel even more intense, don't you think?"

Words failed you; you were too overwhelmed by his presence, by the heat that radiated from his touch, so instead of speaking, you nodded again. He smiled, a slow, knowing curve of his lips that suggested he was aware of the effect he had on you.

"See?" he murmured, slipping your shirt off your shoulders. "Everything feels more alive, doesn't it?"

More than alive, your body was burning. You couldn't tear your eyes away from the mirror, where every movement and touch vividly reflected back at you. You leaned into him, letting the warmth of his body envelop you as his lips found the curve of your neck, planting soft, lingering kisses.

His fingers slid down the strap of your bra, the motion slow and tantalizing as his gaze traced the path. His other hand remained at your waist, holding you steady as if he knew how his actions were making your knees weak. 

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he urged when he caught you staring intently at your reflection.

"I'm thinking," you started. “That this mirror might be magic.”

His eyebrows raised slightly, amusement flickering through his gaze. "Oh?" 

“It’s making my clothes disappear.”

He laughed, the sound rich and warm in the quiet room. “I thought maybe I had something to do with that.”

“Well… you do love a good magic trick.”

“I do love a good magic trick.”

You felt his fingers on your back before he unhooked the clasp of your bra. The fabric loosened, and you felt a flush of warmth that had little to do with the room's temperature. His hands slid from your back to your shoulders, gently pushing the straps down your arms, allowing the fabric to slip away gracefully. 

“You’re so beautiful.”

You swallowed, trying to concentrate as his arms circled your waist before his fingers found the waistband of your pants.

“You’re… you’re pretty too.”

His chuckle was low and affectionate, his breath tickling your ear. "I'll take that as a compliment."

You felt his fingers undo the button of your pants, his movements slow, almost teasing, before he gently slid the zipper down. He gazed into your eyes through the mirror, seeking permission, and you found yourself nodding, your breath catching in your throat.

His hands shifted, not only guiding the fabric down your legs but also making sure your panties followed suit as he kneeled behind you. He let out a strained groan when he caught the evidence of your slick arousal clinging onto the fabric, momentarily pausing to kiss the back of your exposed thigh.

You were so pretty, so warm, so inviting. Spencer let his lips linger onto your skin while he pushed the last piece of clothing gently past your knees, allowing it to fall gracefully to the floor. He stood back up and led you both backward until the back of his knees met the edge of the bed.

With a smooth motion, he sat down, guiding you to sit between his spread legs. He carefully nudged your legs apart with his hand, and you couldn't resist looking away when you saw yourself in this position.

“No,” he said, his hand tracing along the column of your neck, coming to rest gently against your jaw before tilting your face toward the mirror. “I want you to watch.” 

Hesitantly, your eyes met your reflection in the mirror. You could clearly see yourself, how exposed you were, how you seemed to look smaller compared to him with the way you were naked and the way he was still fully clothed.

His hands traced a path from your jaw down your neck, and he watched himself move over the swells of your breasts. He gave them both a firm squeeze, admiring how they looked in his hands, how your skin radiated beneath his own. 

You gasped when his thumbs brushed your nipples. It seemed like it wasn’t much, but the sensation you were getting from it was making you wetter. Your nipples were so sensitive that you let out his name in an airy moan.

“Yes, baby?”

Your back arched instinctively. He knew what he was doing with his sweet, gentle voice and the way he was rolling your nipples in between his index and middle fingers.

You shifted your head to the side. “Can you kiss me?”

Of course he could, he’d probably give you anything you asked for. Spencer leaned forward, his lips met yours that melded with sweetness an intense longing. One of your hands found its way to his hair, pulling him closer as you kissed him with a clear desperation, but his hunger was unmatched.

He was kissing you as if he wanted to make sure he memorized every curve of your lip, the way your tongue felt, and how it felt good to get a moan out of you. You were moaning loudly, way too loud, and all he could do was swallow your moans—tongue exploring all over the inside of your mouth or press his lips hard against yours. 

Finally breaking the kiss just enough to speak, he whispered against your lips. “Should I continue?”

You nodded as his other hand, which had been skillfully teasing your nipples traveled down, tracing the lines of your body, over your ribs, pausing at your hips. He gently guided your hips to shift slightly, adjusting the angle, spreading your legs further apart.

“Can you keep your eyes on the mirror for me?”

You fixed your gaze on the reflection and felt a surge of heat rush through you. A glistening sheen of your arousal coated your inner thighs, and it almost embarrassed you, but it seemed like he didn’t mind. His large hands moved down your thighs, his touch alternating between gentle brushes and firm grips, exploring the softness of your flesh.

The moment his fingers made contact with the slick wetness, sliding effortlessly through your folds and parting them, a sharp gasp escaped your lips. The image in the mirror was boldly erotic, and he continued with practiced movements as he pushed you further into a haze of pleasure.

“Look at how responsive you are,” he murmured, his fingers rolling over your clit. "Visual stimulation can greatly enhance the physical sensations. Watching yourself like this, seeing how much you enjoy it, can intensify everything you feel."

Your stomach churned with a violent delight as he began to put more pressure, rubbing your swollen nub in a circular motion. You gasped, focusing on your reflection–your head tilting back, your eyes fluttering shut before snapping open again. It was intensely arousing to see yourself in such a raw, unguarded state.

"Watching can make the pleasure more acute," he continued, guiding your hand down to feel where his fingers were at work. "Try it."

Your eyes met his in the mirror. “W-What?”

“Here,” he encouraged, taking hold of your hand before placing it at the center of your cunt. The warmth and wetness were startling, even more so because you were witnessing it unfold in the mirror. His fingers guided yours, teaching you the rhythm and pressure that had drawn those sharp gasps from your lips.

"Like this," he murmured, his own hand adjusting yours, showing you how to circle and press. Your breath hitched, seeing the flush spread across your chest and neck, the way his fingers moved above yours.

"It intensifies, doesn't it?"

Your head fell back to his chest. “Y-Yes.”

“Keep going,” he instructed, and you followed, playing with your clit with the right amount of pressure you desired. When his fingers traveled further down, his fingertips grazing your entrance, your jaw slacked open.

You whimpered as he began to sink his digits into your cunt, savoring the way you clenched around him. Your eyes rolled at the back of your head before you instinctively closed your eyes. 

You felt his free hand gripping your jaw.

“Eyes on the mirror, Sweetheart.”

You obeyed, reopening your eyes. You settled to watch how his hand flexed as he began to slowly pump his finger in and out of your dripping cunt before adding another to stretch you out. You whined, your own fingers moving fast against your clit.

“Good,” he murmured, burying his face against the side of your neck, face nearly pressing into yours. His stubbled jaw scraped across your skin, causing you to shudder in pleasure. “Keep watching.”

You could barely think straight, your breaths coming in short gasps now, your focus split between the sensations rippling through your body and the erotic display in the mirror. His fingers curled inside you, finding that perfect angle to press against your most sensitive spot. 

The room was quickly filled with the lewd sound as he kept a steady pace, fingers rutting into your tight hole, your slick inner walls clenching around him with each thrust. Your hips jerked against him again as a tiny moan escaped your lips.

"I love seeing you like this," he confessed. "Are you close?”

You struggled to answer, your breaths coming in quick, shallow gasps. But he felt the way you clenched around him, a clear sign of your approaching orgasm. His other hand traced a path from just below your breasts, gliding down over the smooth plane of your stomach. He paused, his palm resting just above where your own fingers were playing with your clit, and applied pressure there.

A shudder tore through you, the sensation bordering on overwhelming before a sharp, involuntary whimper escaped your lips. Your body shook as your orgasm washed over you in an intense wave.

The mirror captured it all—the way your head tossed back against his shoulder, your eyes squeezed shut, then snapped open to catch glimpses of his fingers thrusting into your throbbing cunt while his other hand pressed gently on your lower stomach.

Your own movements paused as you tried to catch your breath and Spencer held you, making sure you composed yourself even though his erection was digging into the swell of your ass, itching to be inside of you. Fortunately, he had patience—you, on the other hand, not so much.

You gripped onto his thigh, noting the fabric underneath your palm. “You’re wearing too much clothes.”

Spencer chuckled softly, his breath warm against your ear. "Am I now?" 

"Definitely too much.”

"Maybe we should fix that," he suggested, shifting slightly to allow some space for you to turn in his arms. Your hands moved to the buttons of his shirt the moment you faced him, fingers itching to rid him of the unnecessary barrier.

He watched your every move with a slight smile playing on his lips. letting you push the fabric over his shoulder. “Better?”

"Getting there.”

You worked at the buckle of his belt before you unbuttoned his pants, urging him to lift his hips as you slid them off. "How about now?”

You reached out, your hands gliding up his now bare thighs.

"Almost. Still too much."

Spencer responded immediately, his hands removing the last piece of his clothing in a fluid motion. Then he was finally naked, and the sight of his cock, visibly aroused and gleaming slightly at the tip, drew a sharp intake of breath from you.

"Now we're talking," you breathed out, a satisfied grin spreading across your face.

His hands found their way to your waist, urging you to face the mirror again. “Get on your knees for me.”

“You’re really into this mirror thing, huh?"

“It’s hard not to,” he quipped, his hands gently guiding you into position as he settled behind you. "Don’t worry, all the attention is on you."

“Oh, really?” you responded, turning slightly to look up at him. "Or do you just like seeing how good you make me feel?”

“I do make you feel good, don’t I?”

“Cockiness does not suit you.”

“Mhm,” he hummed, gripping your hips with one hand and the other positioning himself right at your entrance. “Arch your back a little.”

You obliged, accentuating the curve of your body. “Like this?”

“Perfect.”

His hand on your hips adjusted you slightly, ensuring the angle was just right. You sucked in a sharp breath, feeling his cock brush past your folds and you both moaned as he pushed himself further into you. Once he was all the way in, pausing to take a breath, he slowly slid back out to give you an experimental thrust. 

You whined at the sensation before adjusting your knees, spreading them further apart to give him better access. This new position deepened the angle, and when he thrust back into you, the pleasure intensified.

"Is this better?" He asked breathlessly, watching your expressions in the mirror for any sign of discomfort or pleasure.

You nodded. Your face felt hot, your mind was fogging up. The feeling of being filled was too good, but you wanted something more. Your hips, as if you had no control over them, started to grind against his.

Spencer groaned in pleasure, head going blank. His hands rested on your waist, pulling back to slide himself out before going back in slowly, meeting your movement. But he was treating you as if you were fragile, his thrusts were gentle, and despite how vocal you are with your little whimpers, it still wasn’t enough.

“Baby,” you gasped, pushing your hips back into his. “Can you—can you go faster?”

Spencer's response was immediate, his breath catching slightly at your request. His gaze met yours in the mirror, searching for any sign of hesitation, but when he saw none, he began to pick up the pace.

“Faster?” His hand tightened on your waist as he gave you a hard thrust, jolting you forward. “Or rougher?”

Both, you wanted both, but a breathless yes was the only thing that managed to slip out of your mouth. His grin was sharp, almost predatory. His movements became even more deliberate, each thrust gaining force and speed, driving into you with an intensity that matched the urgency in your voice.

“You like that?” he asked, voice rough with desire as he leaned closer, his breath hot against your skin. 

"Yes, I—fuck," You blabbered. The pleasure was building, coiling tightly within you. “S-So good.”

Spencer’s other hand moved forward, finding your chin in the mirror and gently turning your face towards his. “Look at us.”

The reflection showed every detail—your wide eyes, his focused expression, the way your bodies moved together in a perfect rhythm. It was overwhelming, and even more intense when the hand on your waist slid around you, fingers brushing your clit.

You mewled, your back pressing against his chest. The visual of watching it all happen, of seeing how your bodies worked together, amplified everything. The combination of his thrusts and the relentless circles his fingers traced over your clit drove you closer to the edge. 

"Spencer, I’m—" you started, breathless, the words catching in your throat as the building pressure within you neared its peak.

"I know," he replied. He could feel it too, the way your body clenched around him, and he was just about at his limit. “Me too… I’m so close.”

You felt every muscle in your body tighten, the coil in your stomach winding tighter and tighter. “Wanna feel you,” you gasped. “Cum… inside…  me.”

Spencer’s response was a deep, guttural groan, his breaths growing even more labored. “Yeah? You want me to fill you up?”

“Please," you whispered, urgency lacing every syllable. “Want your cum in me.”

That did it. He just couldn’t say no to you.

His fingers moved rapidly on your clit as he drove into you. The combination of his deep, determined thrusts and the relentless stimulation of your clit overwhelmed your senses. The room was filled with the sounds of the rhythmic slap of skin against skin, and you could see in the mirror how each movement affected you.

Then, with a few more powerful thrusts, you felt him tense, a deep groan escaping him as he reached his climax. The hot rush of his release inside you was the final trigger your body needed. Your vision blurred, your mind blanked, and you surrendered to the intense wave of your own orgasm, crashing over you with a force that left you trembling and breathless.

Spencer continued to move gently, riding out the aftershocks of your climaxes together, his movements becoming slower, more soothing. As the waves of pleasure subsided, he wrapped his arms around you more tightly, pulling you back against his chest protectively. His breaths were slow and deep, calming against the back of your neck.

You were panting, tired yet blissful, and your eyes met his gaze in the mirror once again.

“How many couples do you think the mirror has witnessed?”

Spencer chuckled softly, his chest rumbling against your back. "More than we can imagine."

He then pulled out from you and a soft sigh escaped you as his hot release slipped from your cunt. Spencer noticed it too, which was why his hand went back between your thighs, his fingers pushing the white, warm liquid back into you.

“Oh my god,” you gasped. “What–you—” You stared at him with wide eyes. “You are filthy.”

“Don’t pretend you’re not enjoying this.”

You sighed, because he was right, more so you were enjoying it too much because his fingers continued thrusting into you and you found yourself pushing back against his hand.

“Spence…” You warned him, although it came out too breathless to make it sound like a real threat.

He grinned, clearly enjoying your response. “Do you want me to stop?”

You paused, pretending to think, but there was no real doubt as you quickly shook your head. Because how could you want him to stop when his touch was so intoxicating, when he was focused so intently on your pleasure more than ever before?

Your eyes drifted back toward the expansive mirror in front of you.

Maybe you should get one for your room.

[mym1na]

୨ৎ SKATER GIRL ─ HANNI PHAM.

— 001. RAN OVER, half written.

#FLASHBACK!

11:40 AM | 📍some sidewalk idk man

Hanni, on a random Friday, continued her routine. She got ready, left her house, and then skated to Minji’s house to hang out with the older girl.

Hanni was too busy enjoying the music that was playing on her headphones, letting her music and skateboard guide her through the path she takes almost every day, not paying any attention to her surroundings. So imagine the surprise she had when, the moment she gained consciousness, she suddenly noticed a figure that emerged from nowhere.

“What the fuck—” A sudden, panicked voice yelled out. Hanni's eyes bulged at the figure, skidding to a halt and nearly falling off her board after hearing the other faint voice. Hanni removed her headphones before looking over the girl to make sure she didn’t hit her in any way. “I’m so sorry!” Hanni says with a panicky and awkward stare.

“Did you almost kill me by running me over with a skateboard?” Yn’s brows furrowed with disbelief that she had almost died in a skateboard accident. Absolutely embarrassing.

“Well, I didn’t mean to,” Hanni replied, awkwardly grabbing her skateboard from the ground and sliding it under her arms to keep it still.

“And also, I doubt you would’ve died from it, so—uh.”

Yn frowned at this. “You don’t know that.” She says this while looking down at her watch.

“Shit. I’m late. Thanks for almost running me over; you made me even more late, gosh.” Yn says while moving away from Hanni, speed-walking past Hanni without any glance.

Hanni just watched the girl walk away, staring at her until she slowly disappeared from the distance.

“I should’ve asked for her number,” Hanni muttered to herself before blinking herself out of the trance she was stuck in. She shook her head before continuing the path she was on, on foot instead, just to make sure she wouldn’t almost run any more pretty girls.

12:05 PM | 📍Minji’s place (🏳️‍🌈)

“So, let me get this straight—” Minji paused to take a bite of the ice cream she was eating. “You almost did a hit-and-run on a skateboard; she was slightly rude, but yet you still wanted her number?” Minji said, trying to understand the situation properly and finding the whole thing silly in the best way possible. “What? I like them a little mean.” Hanni says with a huff, leaning into the chair she was sitting in as Minji snorts at the response she was given.

“Until they get too mean.”

“That’s why I said a little mean.” Hanni said.

Hanni let out a depressive sigh. “You think I’m going to see her again?”

Minji shrugged, putting her ice cream down beside her and pulling out her phone. “I don’t know; probably, apparently, we all meet someone twice.”

“I hope I meet her again.”

“That girl probably told you to kill yourself, and you’re over here like, 'awhhh, I miss this girl'; you don’t even know her.” Minji made fun of the girl for being in a lover girl era with someone who seems to not give a fuck.

“Okay and?? Don’t be jealous that a pretty girl looked in my direction.” Hanni rolled her eyes with a huff.

Minji snorted once more, now scrolling on her phone, probably wandering around in the jungle called the internet. Minji’s brow furrowed in curiosity as she stared down at her phone. “Haerin replied to a tweet.”

“Okay…?” Hanni questioned why Minji was telling her this, as, you know, everyone replies to something.

“To a girl who is complaining about almost getting run over by a skateboard.” Minji finished her sentence, and not even two seconds later, Hanni was by her side, looking at the girl’s phone.

“What.” Was all Hanni said before grabbing Minji’s phone out of her hands, quicker than the flash.

“Hey!”

“Shhh.” Hanni moved her hand towards Minji’s mouth, covering it so the girl could keep quiet.

Hanni stared at Haerin's reply. Going to the girl’s account and straight to the following so she can find her “hit and run” girl.

“Is that stalking?” Minji muffled from Hanni’s hand. Hanni quickly took her hand off Minji’s mouth to give her a quick slap on the head before landing her hand right back on Minji's mouth. Earning herself a small “ow” from the girl.

“No.”

“I’m gonna text her.”

Minji quickly removed Hanni’s hand from her mouth, snatching her phone back. “Text her on your phone, not mine, you stupid gay.”

Hanni let out an annoyed sigh before rushing to pull out her phone. Repeating the same steps as before, she stopped and thought to herself, Maybe it did seem like she was stalking if she just sent her a dm.

“I’m gonna text Haerin.”

“Why?”

“…I don’t want to look like I’m stalking.” Hanni sent Minji a glare, knowing the girl was going to take that as a win, like Hanni was admitting to stalking.

Minji went to open her mouth, but before she could, Hanni spoke before her.

“Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything!” Minji acted shocked, throwing her hands up in the air as if she wasn’t going to do anything.

MASTERLIST | NEXT

[OPEN] TAGSLIST ༄ @saysirhc @aeriigfs @sixflame438 @idkwhatim-doinghere101 @luvqiris @frenchyypoo @wintersgff

[vroomvroommbtch]

Car’s outside - DR x fem!OC

Masterlist

Summary: They hated the distance more than anything in the world, so they finally get to do something about it. 

Pairing: Daniel Ricciardo x fem!OC

Warnings:  Fluff af and language bc idk how to write without swearing.

Word count: 3.9k

A/N: Did I spend my whole Saturday writing this? Yes. Was ROC an inspiration somehow? Maybe. I’m obsessed with writing 2018 Dan and Jas? Absolutely. The fact that I finished this is a miracle?? Yes sir. Anyway, hi kids! This one its kind of short but cute af so I hope you like it. I love this two together bc they’re the most wholesome couple in the world. Whatever, hope u like it and let’s pray I get to post again soon lol Let me know what you think?? See ya soon!  ♥️✌🏻

---

Car’s outside.

-

July 2018.

London was gloomy. It was yet another grey day waiting for the rain to fall at any given time, but Jas knew what made it even more grey and sad was Daniel’s bags right by the door, waiting for him to grab them and leave. He was going to leave the next morning because he needed to be in Germany for yet another race, which meant just being able to see him through the screen of her phone. It meant no kissing, no touching, no hugging and just thinking about it made Jas feel uneasy.

After almost one month of blissful kind of domestic life, letting each other go for two weeks sounded insane. Damn, it wasn’t even two whole weeks because she was gonna be in Hungary for the last race of the first part of the calendar. She was gonna be there by his side ready to go on vacations with Daniel as soon as his job was done, but it felt awful even if they were going to be two hours' flight from each other. Two hours flight and nine days apart and she was gonna be back in his arms. Nine pathetic long days to be back in her favorite place in the world. To think about that was what made it bearable.

After six months of relationship, Jas was still not used to letting him go. None of them were used to letting each other go. Even if Daniel was used to not spending much time with his family and friends, he was always telling Jas how difficult it was for him too. ‘I just fucking hate letting you go’ was what he said time after time as they covered each other in kisses. There was no better way to describe it, that’s why during that grey night Jas hugged him a bit tighter, trying to not wake him up in the process. His idea of watching a movie turned into Daniel falling asleep half an hour into whatever random movie he picked up. Then that turned into Jas ignoring the movie and putting her focus on her boyfriend. His face was hiding in the crock of her neck, slow breaths hitting her skin and messy curls tickling her. Even when it was the middle of the goddamn summer and outside it was warm and humid, all she wanted was to stay like that forever, with Daniel using her as his pillow. All she wanted was to make the night longer so Tuesday wouldn’t come.

They both knew how things were and that at some point they always had to say goodbye, but this time was especially hard. Everything was a rollercoaster since Monaco. After their love confession that Sunday everything clearly was different. After that day everything was somehow way more intense, that included the sadness of flying back home to Dublin when Daniel had to go to Canada. She hated it. She hated having to kiss him goodbye and the ‘See you again soon’ promise. She hated those long farewell hugs knowing she couldn’t stay there forever. She hated the feeling inside her chest because her whole body was yelling for her to drop everything and stay. After all, that was the right thing to do. But she had to ignore it, take a deep breath, push the knot in her throat to a side all to whisper a shy ‘I love you’ with a sad smile on her face.

But his week in Canada felt somehow short. The nights were terrible and felt eternal, but the afternoons weren’t that bad and the next thing she knew Jas was on her way to the airport to pick Daniel up. After that, they didn’t move from each other’s side. They went from Dublin to France, not just for the race but also to spend her birthday there. After that they went to Austria and thank God she was there not only for his birthday but also to do everything in her power to calm him down after that terrible DNF on Sunday. After that, they went to the UK and that’s where they had been since then.

It was weeks of waking up and going to bed by his side. It was weeks of not being able to bathe alone because Daniel would sneak in the shower with her every single time. It was weeks of waking up with Daniel between her legs or covering her body with kisses and doing the same for him. It was weeks of giggling as they reminded each other to not be so loud because they were in a hotel room, and someone would complain about the noise. Then it was days of almost a normal life in London. It was days of doing the most normal things a couple could do. It was days of making dinner, grocery shopping, getting a text from Daniel saying ‘I’m on my way home’ and knowing he was not talking about a place but about her. It was weeks of being home simply because they were together, not caring about the country they were in.

After all that she didn’t want to move from his side, but she needed to go back home, and Daniel needed to go to Germany, but all that could wait till the next day. She even wanted to leave dinner for a bit later if that included not moving from her place. They were perfectly fitted together on the couch, and she was so comfortable that moving felt like a tragedy. Moving from there left wrong, but she didn’t have much of an option. All she could do was wish time would freeze for a while, but it was nothing but impossible.

“Baby...” Jas called him as softly as possible, running her fingers around his back under his shirt and tangling her other hand in his messy curls. But just like she imagined, all she got in response was a soft groan coming from her boyfriend, which didn’t surprise her at all. “Danny, baby, c'mon, you gotta get up. I gotta go make dinner” she insisted as she kissed his forehead.

If something always worked with sleepy Daniel was the threat of Jas leaving his side. She couldn’t blame him because every time she would do the same. Every time one of them would be asleep, if the other threatened with leaving, they would automatically react. This time wasn’t different. This time, with the threat of Jas leaving his side, Daniel tightened his grip around her waist, making his statement very clear. “Don’t” was all he said, voice so sleepy and raspy that it did nothing but give Jas another reason to stay.

“Can you look at me, sunshine?” Jas asked gently, kissing his forehead once more. And true to his promise of making all her wishes come true, Daniel looked at her. With the sleepiest face and through half-opened eyelids, Daniel moved out of his little shelter and looked at her. And fuck, how she loved him and his handsome face. She could spend hours just looking at him and kissing every inch of his face. She could stay there the whole night kissing those perfect lips and looking at his brown eyes. All that and his contiguous smile and his crazy curls and that tanned skin were her perdition, so she had to do a big effort to focus and talk again. “Dia duit, grà“

“I’ve no idea what the fuck you just said but it sounded sexy” Daniel murmured, running his nose against hers as he slowly moved one of his hands to her ass, just to rest it here as he would normally do.

And like every single time, Jas would smile and steal one kiss as she moved impossibly close to him because it was never enough when it comes to being near Daniel. “Weren't’ you asleep?” she wondered as his fingers slowly moved around her skin. Not that she couldn’t blame him when she was wearing nothing but panties and one of his shirts.  

“Yeah, but my sexy girlfriend woke me up” he smirked, knocking the air out of her lungs like every time he did that. Daniel’s smile could convince her of absolutely everything, so she could imagine how that night was gonna end.

“Excuse me, you're the one who abandoned me in the middle of the movie. You’re very lucky you’re handsome and I love you very much” Jas joked, poking his ribs as she tried to sound as serious as possible. She was the one who normally would fall asleep in his arms so she would never blame him for such a thing. Nothing would make her feel better than to know that Daniel could get some rest from to time after such a complicated year, so he could sleep all she wanted. The only problem was when she wouldn’t be able to leave the couch without waking him up because he decided to turn into a human version of a koala.

“Sorry ‘bout that, princess” he murmured, moving his fingers through the elastic of her panties as he kissed his way back to her neck. “I can pay you back for the inconvenient”

It took everything from her to not follow his lead. It took everything to not beg Daniel to fuck her right then and there on the couch as they would normally do. It took even more of her to ignore the way he was getting hard against her leg and especially to not move her hip against him. There was  nothing she wanted more than to ride him until the only thing Daniel could remember was her name, but she had to be a grown-up woman and be responsible. She needed to be a grown-up woman even when Daniel was doing his best effort to change her mind with kisses, some gentle bites, and licks on her skin while grabbing handfuls of her ass.

“Later. Now I got shit to do, beauty. Gotta go make dinner” she breathed, biting her tongue as she kept to herself the moan that was threatening to leave her mouth when Daniel kissed the weak spot on her neck.  

“Later”. Another bite, another lick, another kiss, another push of their hips together.

It was terribly hard to resist.

“C’mon, sunshine, I gotta feed you. Mike ain’t here to do the dirty job and if I don’t put food in your body, he’ll kill me, and you’ll get hungry and grumpy” Jas insisted, moving her free hand from his back to his chest to rest it there. Having her hand under his shirt wasn’t going to help much to the situation, but she just couldn’t help it.

“We can order. Besides, you’re the one who gets grumpy when you’re hungry”  

He knew her well. He knew her too damn well. Six months together and Daniel already knew her like the back of his hand. He knew she would get grumpy if she was hungry, he knew how to put a smile on her face even on the worse days, the way to make her fall asleep when it seemed impossible, how to make her moan as any other man could ever do, how to convince her to stop being mad at him even when she could never really get mad at him. Daniel knew all the weak points on her body to make her beg for more and to leave her breathless. But beyond all, Daniel could make her smile brighter and bigger than anyone in the whole world. He knew the way to her heart better than anyone else in the world and that’s why it belonged to him.

But Jas knew Daniel as well as he knew her, that’s why she couldn’t help but smile when he said those words. “You’re the one who complains every time we order something! You’re the one who says my food's better”

“Cause your food’s always better” he affirmed, and Jas could feel his smile against her skin. No matter where they ordered, no matter to which amazing restaurant they went, Daniel would always somehow smile and say ‘It was alright, but I like your food better’. Jas would always joke and say there was no need to lie to her to get laid that night, but she knew Daniel wasn’t joking. Jas was no chef, she was far from that, but unlike her sister, Jas paid attention to the kitchen lessons Aoife and Esmé gave her during her life. What she did was nothing but basic meals, but Daniel said time after time that he loved it. It took a late-night talk over a couple of glasses of wine for Daniel to admit he loved it simply because it tasted like home. After leaving home so young, after being away from Perth for so much time, and especially after being on the road that much, homemade food was something that he could have counted times, so having that thanks to Jas were like a little privilege for him. That’s why Jas tried to cook as much as possible for him when they were together, even when she was too lazy and order sounded like the best option.

“Then let me go and make you some. It’ll be fast. You can keep napping meanwhile. Plus, I ain’t gonna put on my shorts so you can look at my ass while I go” Jas insisted. But when she felt Daniel’s arms going back to her waist to hug her as tightly as possible, and when his lips just gave her one last kiss and then stayed there, she knew there was something else. “What’s going on, baby?”

It took him a second to talk. She could feel his body against her taking a deep breath, she could feel his breath hitting her neck as it left his lips, but more than anything she could feel the doubt in his body. It was hard to think he was the same guy who drove the fastest car in the world. It was crazy to think he was the one who loved to get scared once in a while just because. But Jas knew that guy was also her Danny. Sometimes it was incomprehensible to think that man on the tv was the same man she loved. He was the same Danny that would come to her in the good days and when the world felt too much and when he didn’t want to see anyone else. That was the same Daniel that Jas could feel was doubting and trying to pick the right words to say to his girlfriend. And knowing him the way she did, Jas just waited. She kissed his shoulder, traced lines on his back, and played with his curls as she waited for him to find the right way to say whatever he needed to say. If he needed time, she had all the time in the world for him. And if that wasn’t enough, she was ready to somehow invent more time for him.

“I just don’t want you to go. Not even to the kitchen for five minutes”

There was the issue.

It happened once in a while. Normally, it happened every time they had to let each other go. They knew it was a normal reaction knowing they will have to be away for more time than they will like to. Normally it was Jas the one who had to be reminded that everything was gonna be alright. Generally, it was Daniel the one who had to hold her and promise things were gonna be fine, but sometimes it was the other way around. Sometimes, like that night, Jas was the one who had to be the strong one and make the promises even when her own heart was breaking just for hearing him.

“Baby, we talked about it. Now it's just nine silly days, but then we’ll figure out the rest after the summer break. Y’know I’m not going anywhere” she stated, repeating the same promise they also made at least once a week. Their little ‘I’m not going anywhere’ was something normal. It was a reminder. It was their promise to each other. It was one of the things that kept them going on the worst days.

“I know” Daniel nodded, kissing her one last time her neck as he moved to his previous place, finally looking at her face. “I just wish you could come with me”

“I don’t want you to go but it’s work, love. It's your job”

“I know that too, J, but I miss you. And it’s selfish but I want you around. I need you around, princess” he confessed, moving his right hand out of her waist to look for her hand.

“I miss you too, you hear me? I miss you every single day that you’re not around. It sucks when we’re not together” she murmured, getting close to giving him a long, sweet, loving kiss. But even when their kiss was over, Jas didn’t move. She stayed right there in her place with their lips touching. “I love you so fucking much that it kills me when you’re away. I spend the days counting the minutes till I can see your handsome face again, y’know? That’s how crazy I am for you”

“Then come with me, baby. And not just the next two races, come with me the rest of the year, baby”. They talked about it too. They talked about Jas joining him, but somehow, they ended up agreeing on talking about it at some point in the future. The excuse was them wanting to go slow and how she was supposed to be helping in Aoife’s flower shop until Jas figure out what she wanted to do next, but truth was, she was nothing but scared. She was so in love with Daniel that it was terrifying and the fact that Daniel was in love with her was also scary. So far that one was the most wonderful relationship she ever had so she was terrified of ruining it by going with him to every single race. The idea of ruining it in any way just petrified her, but she knew she couldn’t keep postponing their happiness out of fear. She couldn’t do it when Daniel needed her. The emotional rollercoaster of leaving Redbull was coming, and Daniel needed his people around him, which included Jas in one of the first positions. She couldn’t postpone it when she needed him too. “I know what you think and you’re not gonna be a burden, J. You could never be one”

That was also one of the things that were stopping Jas. Joining Daniel mean leaving her job -even if it was with her mom and if it was temporary-, and it also mean depending on him until she could find a job that would allow her to travel. She knew money wasn’t a problem, Daniel was the one paying for her plane tickets, and he would give her a look if she would ever try paying for anything, but she didn’t want to be that kind of girl. She didn’t want people to think she was there for the money, she didn’t want his family and friends to think she was there for it. She didn’t even touch the extension of his card he gave her weeks ago, too scared to give that step. She didn’t want to be a burden in his life when he had already too many things on his mind, so she just gave excuses, but clearly, that was the end of it.

“Danny, I-“ she tried to interrupt, but he cut her with another kiss before he kept talking.

“We can talk about that later, but it’s not important” he insisted, bringing their joined hands together to his lips to kiss her knuckles. “I need you by my side, baby. This year’s been fucking crazy and I don’t think I’m ready to live the rest of it without you. And I know I’m asking for a lot, but can you at least think about it?”

Everyone told her to go slow. Everyone told her to take a deep breath and a firm step on her decision when it came to her relationship with Daniel. It wasn’t that her family or friends didn’t like Daniel, in fact, they adore him, but they also knew Jas. They could see how everything was going fast and the last thing anyone wanted was to see her getting hurt. Not that they thought Daniel would do something to hurt her, but the nature of their relationship was complicated. Distance was hard, his job was complicated and what came with it was even more tricky, so the advice everyone would give her was to think about her choices and not jump into it. That would be the advice she would give to her friend or her sister, but everything was out of the window when it came to Daniel. In the heart vs heart fight, her heart would always win and this time it wasn’t different. This time she could even hear her family and friends asking what the hell was she doing, saying how she was insane, and even checking twice if she was sure about her choice. She could hear her mom and dad talking and telling her to not put her life aside for him, but the second she saw Daniel’s eyes everything else disappeared.

There was nothing else besides his big brown eyes looking at her, shining full of love. There was nothing like their joined hands against his chest and how she could feel his heart beating. There was nothing as the expectation written all over his face as he waited for her answer. But beyond all, there was nothing like the way he made her feel. There was nothing as the love, happiness, and safety she felt by his side, so even if everything could go terribly wrong, she decided to take a leap of faith, hoping everything would turn out just fine.

“Alright, I’m coming. But you paying everything’s temporary, you hear me? I don’t want you to-“. But before Jas could even finish what she was saying, she got interrupted again by Daniel’s lips against her. But this time it wasn’t just him kissing her mouth, this time it was kissing all around her face and neck, all while he whispered ‘Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!’ again and again and again. “You’re welcome, but I’m serious, Dan!”

“Money is something that comes with the job and since I earned it I can spend it on whatever I want, alright? That includes bringing my girl with me. There’s no better what to spend it” he smiled, giving Jas his best smile, which normally would convince her of anything on a normal day.

And maybe another day he could convince her, but that night she wasn’t giving up, so she pointed to him with one finger as she talked firmly. “Temporary, okay?”

“Whatever makes you happy, babe” he nodded, kissing her fingertip as he kept smiling.

If he was happy then it was worth the pain.

“That’s what I like to hear. Now as a payback, you can start ordering food and taking your clothes off” she teased, but like every time, for Daniel her wishes were his command.

And if Daniel was happy, Jas was happy too, so it was more than worth the pain.    

---

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[meova101]

Okay I have been Thinking lately, and especially now that all I have left is rechewing old crumbs... Sebchal has such character development, you know. It’s actually so different whether you see them now or in 2019 or 2021 and it’s so interesting to see it develop over time. We went from karting together as part of an FDA event to Charles being a nervous wreck to a tribute helmet and ended up at the easy camraderie we see now and there’s so many layers to this shit, man.

In honour of Sebchalday, I figured I’d make a little write-up of the character development I saw in real time. And with little I mean someone stop me this shit is almost 5k. Yes I also had to add in how I watched the public perception of them change because I might as well honestly, the dichotomy in their teammate years truly was something else. Anyway, without further ado, here’s Sebchal throughout the ages, as told by Meo.

2018 and earlier

This really is just a lot of what seems like hero worship from Charles and Seb being polite, a good guy and up for a laugh. In 2017, Charles occasionally starts going on track walks, there’s the iconic moment in Monaco of course, Charles is just a little starstruck. Why else would he make damn sure he’s got Seb in an Instagram post about the karting event. Or look like he’s in a straight-up romcom when Seb talks to him there.

Seb, on the other hand, seems generally aware of Charles (his F2 results, ofc the track walks, signing that picture of Charles from testing 2018, offering Charles a seat during a drivers parade), but he keeps his distance for the most part. Which is completely understandable, honestly. But this all sets up the scene, because who would have ever thought that this would turn into a rather unlikely friendship?

2019

Rivalry time! We kick this off with, uh, a very nervous Charles on the first team outing to the Dolomites, followed by a hug and a cheek cradle in the second race. Yeah idk either where this went off the rails.

Okay no that’s a lie, I know exactly where it went off the rails, and shit really hit the fan in Monza. The media was already pushing a rivalry and it makes sense - the story of the old veteran and the young hotshot, both equally talented (don’t fight me on this Barbara) and vying for the top spot in the iconic team. Charles was settling in well, quickly matching Seb in the first half of the season, something was clearly brewing. It’s brilliant. It’s a showstopper. It’s also not true, but imagine listening to the drivers themselves.

So Monza comes around and all hell breaks loose. No, legit, this streak of races is the main cause of the rivalry talk persisting. In Monza, Charles doesn’t give Seb a tow during qualifying, leaving Seb unable to even set a final time in Q3 (along with basically every other driver, this quali is so funny). Seb has a race to forget after that while Charles wins. He wins in Spa, he wins in Monza, it’s fucking insane. Il Predestinato for real.

Singapore is up next and Charles gets pole, Charles has a good start, but then. Ohhhhh, then. Seb pits, has a very good outlap, starts overtaking the as-of-yet-unpitted like they’re barely there (in fucking Singapore y’all), while Charles falls further behind. Exasperated, Charles gets on the radio and says he wants everything, but what d’you know, Seb wins. Charles does not look pleased on the podium. Seb does.

And then Sochi. Oh my god let me tell you about Sochi. Charles has pole, again. But you don’t want pole in Sochi, and Seb wastes no time in overtaking Charles, nabbing P1 in the process. And what happens next is the perfect example of what I like to call a bitch fight. You’re gonna want to see this to believe it. Here’s a link to the team radio. It’s funny as hell, it’s petty as hell, Seb DNFs and Charles barely hangs on to the podium in the end, ladies and gentlemen: a rivalry.

Brazil only fanned the flames, I’m just saying.

But even with all of this. Like, it seems very explosive, you know. Which makes it all the more interesting how they don’t actually... seem to explode? They’re still nice to each other? Sure, it’s still very careful, and the videos they do together have that awkwardness, but they’re nice. And if you dig, just a little, you find Seb and Charles... actually having fun together. You can see their dynamic here most clearly in the language videos, in my opinion. Charles is gushing over everything Seb is saying in French, while Seb is teaching and teasing a little in the German video.

Ferrari themselves somehow manages to hide all the cute stuff, too. Because they sure tried, but you have to know where to look to find their date road trip through the Italian countryside, the videos for Shell and Ferrari themselves, the utterly endearing UPS video where they are both very confused but having fun with it. This stuff is all there, it was uploaded in real time, but it just… got ignored or brushed off as PR.

I remember watching all of their videos at the tail end of 2019, and just gloating like… if only they’d known what would happen afterwards. They wouldn’t be so cordial to each other now if they’d known what lies ahead. Until I realized, and yes this took a hot minute, that if they were always nice to each other, even in the second half of the season, even after everything that had already happened… maybe they actually liked each other.

This was a revelation. Unheard of. These two hated each other, were vying for top spot and there could only be one winner, the other one was just collateral damage, of course they didn’t like each other!

The first half of 2020

Dear reader, turns out they like each other.

There were two camps developing at this time. One of them was still convinced these two hated each other, disliked each other at the very least. The other camp was watching Charles slowly lose his mind on Twitch.

I really can’t understate just how much the lockdown did for the perception of Sebchal, although the major turnaround would happen much later. There really are two factors at play here and I will get to the second one in a bit, but you cannot underestimate how much the Twitch era helped.

Because Charles – and you have to understand, Charles was still seen as a very arrogant, incredibly pretty, extremely talented guy (two of those three are true) which did not help – brought up Seb, a lot. He told us about how he’d been in touch with Seb, trying to get him to play games with him on stream. He wanted to be teammates with Seb so bad while playing F1 2019 that he accidentally picked Seb to play as. He watched F1 compilations that definitely had other drivers in it while exclaiming they were videos about him and Seb. Whether you ship them or not, it’s clear as day that from Charles’s side, there was no rivalry.

Seb, of course, was pretty quiet during this time, but there’s this one interview for Marlboro Mission Winnow that feels more like friends catching up than an actual interview, so there’s that.

The second factor in this is Netflix getting involved. We all know and love to hate Drive To Survive and for season 2, they finally got access to Ferrari and Mercedes. Of course they’d dive headfirst into the rivalry storyline, because believe it or not, once upon a time Drive To Survive actually pretended to base their plot on reality.

And this one backfired. What they thought they were showing were two guys who didn’t much like each other, trying to figure out a way to keep the media at bay. What they actually showed were two very much exasperated guys, teasing and joking with each other while trying to focus on their job. Netflix failed to account for the fact that people might actually look beyond the framing, and thanks to Ferrari trying their best at social media but being endearingly rough around the edges with it, we had plenty of material for that.

And while all of this was playing out, we heard that Seb’s contract at Ferrari wouldn’t be renewed.

Now that’s a whole mess I won’t get into further, because this is also the part where the rats get divided into two camps and I’m not here for that. What I am here for, though, is Charles’s reaction, because he posted a very heartfelt message about the news a bit after it dropped. Why did it take him a bit? Not because he had to run it past PR, I’m pretty sure, because I don’t believe for one second his messages would have gotten the green light. No, it was because not only did Charles take special care to pick out a few pictures of him and Seb together to add to the message, but also because he was driving back from France that day and also, he didn’t know.

I only know he was in the middle of a long drive that day because he’d mentioned it on his Twitch stream before. Also, while looking up this Tweet, I noticed the location tag so that helps. I’m sure I didn’t hallucinate it but since Charles didn’t feel like archiving his streams, I’m also pretty sure this is lost to the void by now. If you happen to have this clip, please let me know so I can stop doubting my memory.

But the second part, where he plain didn’t know? It never got confirmed, but I’m positive. Once again, so many people were convinced here that Charles had been pulling strings behind the scenes, that them working together was impossible after 2019 and especially Brazil, Ferrari had to make a choice and they picked Charles. Except Charles has gone on record multiple times, stating he’d like to keep Seb as his teammate. That he still had so much to learn from him. If it was up to him, Seb would be his teammate for years to come. If he’d known, why would he not have had the messages ready? Why would he have been hyping Seb up as his teammate? Why would anything else in 2020 have happened?

Because trust me, we’re only through the first half of the year now, and it’s only getting better.

The second half of 2020

As we know now, the 2020 Ferrari sucked. Which, in hindsight, was clear during testing, but we all thought Ferrari had just learned how to sandbag. It took until the season finally got underway in Austria that we realized just how deep in the shit our guys were. Charles got a podium in the first race while Seb barely got one point, undoubtedly helped out by the fact that almost half the drivers DNF’d.

In their second race… they crashed. Charles attempted a divebomb down the inside and instead humped Seb’s rear wing. I was crowing at the television at that point, ready for the will-they-won’t-they rivalry of the previous year to continue, yes they’re friendly off track but on track it’s spicy, this was bound to explode…

And nothing.

Because what had happened, especially with them both knowing this partnership would end after this season, was that they started backing each other up. This season was going to be a wash either way and Seb wasn’t going to be there to deal with the fall-out of it. There was no reason for them to remain cordial, to not throw each other under the bus when necessary, and especially in this case it seemed clear-cut, yet they didn’t.

The difference between what happened on track and what happened off track became even more stark. On track, Charles was outdriving Seb so incredibly hard. He qualified so well, while Seb started getting booted out of Q2 more and more often. Charles nabbed another podium in Silverstone, Seb fought for singular points most races. And yet they made sure that whenever the media brought up their results, or tried to poke into their partnership, they always backed each other up. They never once talked bad about each other, tried to make sure the media didn’t forget both of them are extremely talented, and presented themselves as a united front.

Not that anyone bought that, but whatever. 2020 was a weird time and we didn’t have Fernando back on the grid yet. They were aching for some drama.

Off-track, though, and once again you had to actually look for this, which is a common theme with Sebchal… man, this era makes me the most feral still. We not only get Charles saying Ich liebe dich at the end of Seb’s birthday video, and Seb making awkward jokes in Charles’s birthday video, but we get the hourglass challenges. Quite frankly, this is the best social media to ever come out of F1, hands down, nothing will ever beat this. Because you can see, in real time, how Seb and Charles grow closer and more comfortable with each other.

They constantly get paired up with other Ferrari team members, but that doesn’t matter, because when Seb and Charles start talking? They’re talking and no one can disturb them. Like when Seb tries to explain what a pocket watch is briefly, in the background of a video. Seb trying to teach Charles some more Ferrari history during Memory. The entire music challenge, which might as well not have anyone else there.

We get a true glimpse of their fun competitive vibe here, even though Charles gives Seb more chances to win when it looks like Seb might actually lose (you might claim that Seb let you win, Charles, but we have the proof in the darts video and the categories video). I’m pretty sure that if you’d let the two of them alone with a game, you could come back hours later and they’d still be racing tiny little racecars.

You can tell how much closer they got during this season, but as usual, you have to look and listen for it to click. There’s the moment during qualifying for Spa, when they both get knocked out in Q2 and we get a shot of them looking at each other and smiling in understanding. There’s Turkey, where Seb finally gets his podium because he can capitalize on a mistake from Charles, and Charles actually stops beating himself up over the radio for a moment to congratulate Seb on his podium.

The final few races are just a fever dream, really. You have to see the challenge videos to believe them, but they truly have found their dynamic there and they’re so comfortable around each other. And the Danke Seb helmet is still, to this day, probably my favourite moment. Charles made a fucking scrapbook on his helmet. And just to show how even at that point, people still wanted the rivalry to be real so bad: I vividly remember someone on commentary saying “what’s he thanking Seb for, leaving the team?”. It’s crazy. That’s how pervasive the rivalry narrative was, even when Seb and Charles did everything to prove it wasn’t true.

2021

So 2020 was a whirlwind of character development, of notable moments, and definitely lit a fire underneath the ship. Now, however, we enter uncharted territories. The rivalry talk is finally over, now that their time as teammates has ended. But this also means we don’t get to see them interact quite as often, since they’re no longer shoved together at every possible opportunity (lol, not like they were anyway, seeing as the shipbaiting only really starts kicking off around this time in F1 socmed), and we’re rats looking for crumbs now.

Luckily for us, we get a lot of crumbs, and once again it shows very well how their relationship evolves and how they actually work together.

Now, during the winter break and after testing, there were quite a lot of doubters. Which is fine! Everyone gets to have their own opinions! But because the whole rivalry thing was so incredibly pervasive and even without that, Seb and Charles just seem like very different people who only got shoved together because they drove for the same team… it’s entirely understandable to doubt whether they’d continue to interact. And let’s be real, testing did not necessarily give us any indication to think otherwise.

But once again, this is exactly what’s so nice about them, if you look a bit closer… they actually became friends somewhere along these years.

Charles stands next to Seb for the We Race As One ceremony. This might be planned out beforehand, I don’t know, but what certainly isn’t planned out, is them talking and sharing their customary fist bumps before and after these little bits. After races, they also catch up if they find each other either near the car in parc ferme or in the press pen. It’s never that obvious unless you look, and we sure looked.

But it became blindingly obvious during Monaco and Baku this year.

When the drivers were waiting around for the parade, we find Seb and Charles talking to each other, once again so invested in their conversation that Charles almost misses his cue for the bus. And then, once it becomes clear that Charles can’t participate in the race, plenty of drivers offer some words of comfort. But Seb’s the only one to hug him, really talk to him about it, and Charles even leans back into him when Seb’s let go. We don’t know what was said of course, but it’s clear as day now that if anyone’s still hanging onto the old narrative… they’re dead wrong.

And then Baku. Not only do they find each other on the grid again (a recurring theme, there’s so often just a small moment of them getting the other’s attention to say hi), but after the race, Charles obviously first congratulates Pierre on his podium, and then beelines to Seb, where Fernando stares at the display of affection in front of him like he’s watching two aliens land.

It’s the easy way they both grab onto each other there, no hesitation from either side. And yes, I know it seems like Charles is a very tactile guy, but it’s always other people grabbing him. There’s two people where Charles will take the initiative, and both of them have made it onto the podium for this race. Later on, Seb lets us know that he told Charles the previous night, through text, that he’d see him in his mirrors, which once again shows that quietly, they’re still in touch. They’re texting, still teasing each other, and we had no idea until that moment that they still kept in touch in that way, and once again, even if you take the shoggles off it’s still frankly unbelievable that they managed to build a friendship when literally everyone was pushing them towards a rivalry.

This is the moment the rivalry talk really fizzles out, insofar it still even existed. Yes, there’s still people hanging onto it, and it does make a good story, but it’s just that. A story. What we see now is two people who are seemingly very different, pushed together in circumstances that would make other people crack, and they’ve somehow built a connection.

And isn’t that the best story of all?

There’s no topping these crumbs, not even the moment in the Spa press-pen tops this, where we all figured out Charles was talking to Seb before even hearing or seeing him just based on his facial expression, but it does show where Sebchal is at in this year. They’re figuring out how to be friends now that there’s no obligation, because both of them want to be. Seb isn’t one for big gestures and Charles (surprisingly, I know) isn’t either, so we only get the one in Baku. Hell, even Monaco was more of a background thing, and I sure nearly broke my tablet when I spotted the two of them during the We Race As One ceremony as the camera was panning away.

But in the background, there they are, always somehow finding each other, and that’s what truly solidified my love for this ship, really. They don’t need flashy moments, they’re comfortable with each other and it shows.

2022

And then we get to 2022, where everyone finally seems to have figured out that the whole rivalry narrative was never actually a thing. I’m sure part of this is the fact that they haven’t been teammates in a year at this point, that they’re both still persisting in only ever talking nicely about the other when asked, and well, the Aston Martin isn’t actually good so there’s no chance of even having battles on track.

And what we do get, is more crumbs. Honestly, we get much more than in 2021, even without really big moments like Monaco and Baku.

The thing is, we see yet another development in their dynamic for this season. And that’s really one of the big things about Sebchal all this time, we get to see them develop as people, as friends, and this really feels like a culmination of sorts. It doesn’t get picked up much by the social media accounts (thank fuck) and both of them definitely have their people on the grid (Seb gravitates towards Mick, Charles gravitates towards Pierre), but they seem so comfortable in their interactions now.

Take, for instance, the times they get put into the same press conference. We’ve gone back to the bigger pressers now, five people in each session, so we already get more moments where they’re together in the room. And pretty much every time, there’s these quiet friendly moments that don’t necessarily get picked up by the media, but they’re endearing as hell.

Yes, we get the moments where Seb’s flirty on main (which is so fun to watch too, and I dare say it’s even more pronounced now than it even was in 2020). There’s the bus tour jokes in Monaco, where Charles offers to take Seb on one. There’s the presser in Monza, where Seb says he never had as many issues leaving the hotel as Charles does, probably because Charles is more handsome. This kind of open teasing is something new and definitely shows how far they’ve come already.

But there’s also the moments that are more brief, more subtle. Like when Charles motions at Seb about his moustache, or when Seb heads straight towards Charles when he’s late to give him a fistbump. Or when they’re sitting next to each other and end up deep in conversation again, while the presser’s still going on. I know I say the word comfortable a lot, but that’s what it is. They seem to enjoy each other’s company, they like talking to each other and seem to search it out, too, and it’s so organic when you’ve followed them for all these years but it’s a stark contrast to where they started and where the narrative started, too. It’s also a slap in the face to everyone who doubted they’d even acknowledge each other after Seb left the team, which I’m totally here for because I’m not bitter at all lol.

Besides these moments, where they’re already in front of a camera and don’t care that whatever they do is being recorded, there’s still more moments when they’re not. Like, this is just what they do, they don’t ham it up for the cameras at all. There’s plenty of times in the press pen, after a race usually, where they will find each other and catch up a little. To the point where Britta and Mia, both their PR people, just start talking among themselves as well. And it’s always so interesting to see how, even when Charles is looking down (like after Silverstone, or before Hungary for obvious reasons), Seb will always manage to coax a smile out of him.

Because we have more interactions to go off here and we have so much history by now, it’s easier to point out where it seems like they’ve figured out how the other one wants to be treated. As I pointed out in the 2021 section, Seb is one of the few people Charles will actually initiate physical contact with. And throughout the years, throughout this season, it’s not hard to figure out why that is. Most people will grab Charles when they want to touch him, not give him much of a choice. On the other hand, Seb does give him that choice, either touches him briefly and then lets go (like with the upper arm touches that are often used between them to get the other’s attention), or he hugs him from the side, leaving Charles an opening to get out of it if he wants.

On the other hand, Charles seems very aware that Seb is a private person and gives Seb the chance to maintain that privacy, too. During the Twitch streams in 2020 already, he would talk about Seb but never reveal much of what they were talking about together. Most of the times they interact are in the background and Charles is happy enough to let Seb initiate their contact when they are in front of a camera.

And while it seemed like Charles wasn’t very involved in Seb’s last race, I would argue he was and actually took a step back himself to let Seb do what he had to. Even when he felt ill, Charles was still there for the final track run, in the crowd. He did the donuts he promised, mimicked Seb’s finger when he was on the podium after the race. He was also one of the few, if not the only one, to temper expectations and tell people that when Seb’s made a decision, he’s sticking with it, and to not pin hopes on him returning (he’s very stubborn, after all, and his favourite colour’s blue). It might not seem like a lot, but there’s a very real respect and acknowledgement of who Seb is as a person there.

The narrative surrounding Sebchal has changed so much through the years – to the point where even Ferrari called it a very special bond in their social media posts about Seb’s last race – and their dynamic has evolved alongside it. The “rivalry” was very fun while it lasted, don’t get me wrong, but the guys have been telling us all along that it was fabricated and luckily, we now have the full picture. It’s been a fun journey to see it all develop right in front of my salad (I might have only joined after the 2019 summer break but all in all, missing out on half a season is excusable I think) and while I do miss seeing the two of them together on the grid, I will absolutely go down with this ship. No one does it like them and even without new crumbs, there’s still plenty to chew on and pick apart to keep me busy for a long time to come.

[pharawee]

I’ve yet to gif this ep’s spicy scene but maybe I shouldn’t do that when I’ve had 2 cups of glühwein and it’s already past midnight - the perfect conditions for another Big Dragon episode review.

To save me some time screencapping I just recorded the ep while I was watching it so excuse the subs. Or maybe they’ll even come in handy, we’ll see. I cropped them out for my gifs but I’m too lazy to do it here (I say but I’ve cropped out the gagaoolala logo 🤡).

This ep starts exactly where we left off last week (actually, there’s some overlap again - why are you doing this, Star Hunter? There’s only 8 eps of this show!) - only now we see some of Mangkorn’s perspective. It’s still pretty sketchy. I mean, you could have just... not let that girl half undress you while you told her you’re not interested.

But okay. You already said it, you and Yai are both womanizers and apparently old habits die hard.

But it’s Mangkorn’s face when Yai in his fit of jealousy hits far too close to home that really gets to me:

He’s looking almost pained. But of course, Mangkorn being Mangkorn, he’d just rather lash out instead. And Yai, being understandably hurt, doesn’t see it for what it is. He probably thinks Mangkorn is feeling guilty.

Which leads to Yai pushing and Mangkorn pushing back (it seems to be his favoured approach when it comes to Yai acting out).

And then, “If you want me to delete those videos, you have to come home with me.” Which at this point is a very convenient excuse, I guess, because Yai gets to ask himself the following:

And the answer, predictably, is:

Because, honestly, this is probably a lot easier to deal with for them than having to think about their relationship as a whole.

Coincidentally, Mos has said that for him the love scenes were easier to do than scenes in which he had to cry etc, since he could just get into the moment and “be” his character. He would be embarrassed before and after the take since there’s crew around but let go completely when the camera was rolling.

Plus, the camera work is gorgeous - all shaky and raw and in and out of focus, interspersed with light and shadow and spots of red.

I can see why this is Bank’s favourite scene.

I can hear LITA’s Rain screaming in the distance. Phayu would never!

It’s the next morning and the audience is literally wearing rose-tinted glasses. And so are Mangkorn and Yai. This has got to be their honeymoon phase (and look, the yin/yang carpet from the trailer makes its first appearance!).

I love how Mangkorn’s house - where he lives alone since his parents live out of town and don’t visit very often - is all cosy and warm. Compared to Yai’s condo it feels really inviting and personal, like he’s got it all figured out (spoiler: he hasn’t).

The product placement was of course kind of on the nose but unbearably cute. Plus, I’m addicted to Tao Kae Noi so I’m not even mad.

And I love the way Yai immediately gave in when Mangkorn mentioned his mother. I really appreciate how the dialogue in this show isn’t just surface-level. There’s so many things going on, especially since both Mangkorn and Yai are characters who say so many things with so few, conflicting, often hurtful words.

Which is why this honeymoon phase can’t last.

(Oh, and tbh I love how the blackmail video is more of a footnote in this ep. The less said, the better. But yay for showing us the cute MosBank sticker again 🥰 )

Mangkorn’s mum makes a really awkward 1-minute appearance just so she can embarrass her future son-in-law. And then, she just vanishes again because she’s a good mum and read the room (which will probably come up later, judging by next ep’s preview).

Next, Yai goes all overboard and decides to give the place a good dusting. Idk if it’s always this untidy or if he feels guilty for destroying at least two semesters worth of architecture homework. Park and Pong make a short appearance in all of their pink and blue glory but somehow it looks even more untidy when they leave.

But look at them in their little color-coded outfits. Cutest bodyguards ever!

And what is this?

Oh no, it’s the dreaded “maybe I’ll go abroad for a year” trope rearing its ugly head. Don’t do it, Star Hunter! There’s only 8 episodes!

I appreciate the continuous bj jokes, though (so this is what Mangkorn ordered for you?🥴).

No more rose-tinted glasses. Now there’s a heavy red plaid on the bed.

Negl I honestly half-expected Yai to find engagement announcements in the drawer but of course that would have taken away from their fight later.

I’ll get to Hong and Nadear in a bit, please bear with me. Let me just say they’re unbearably cute with their matching bracelets 🥰

Then there’s this - the complete opposite of their Tao Kae Noi-sponsored breakfast (more yin & yang, I guess). And while maybe Mangkorn is right to say that Yai doesn’t listen, it’s really unfair for him to expect Yai to read between the lines when - and Yai is right about that one, too! - Mangkorn is keeping a lot of secrets. He keeps all of his problems to himself and just kind of stoically accepts them. Which maybe works with his family, but it doesn’t work with Yai.

And tbh it really got to me when he accused Yai of being selfish when Yai has outright offered his help no less than three times (once in the last ep) because he sensed that there’s something that’s worrying Mangkorn. Is he maybe naive for offering that help? Sure. But at least he’s reaching out.

Mangkorn is throwing “selfish” around like it’s an insult, like it’s really supposed to hurt - when, yeah, someone like Yai probably needs to be a little bit selfish in order to figure out what he wants. That’s not a bad thing.

I really feel for both of them. I feel for Mangkorn because he’s so used to going it alone and keeping his problems to himself, and I feel for Yai because he won’t face his problems (case in point: he later runs off again rather than facing his dad and his dad’s new gf).

But I’m glad that this time the uno-reverse card backfired on Mangkorn big (lmao) time.

It’s really convenient that P’Nine has a rooftop bar.

And look, it’s Tung!! 🥰 And his character is having the worst day at the job ever, but somehow he knows the exact song that Yai is going to sing.

I don’t even mind the singing, though, because I was a fan of ISBANKY the singer before I was a fan of Bank the actor so this is like, a major stan moment for me.

If it isn’t the consequences of your own actions, Mangkorn...

And again he just rather keeps to himself instead of reaching out. Have you learned nothing (probably not, there’s still 3 eps to go)?

Oh, wait, is this supposed to be Yai, his sister and Nine in the photo?

It’s really tragic how Mangkorn triggered Yai’s bisexual awakening. He could have eloped with Nine years ago.

I would recognise this ikea blanket anywhere.

Okay, but I need a moment to just stare at Big Thanakorn because he’s literally perfect. We might not survive a show with him as the lead. He’s too powerful. 

I wanted to screencap Jet & Jame’s appearance but it’s too short and this review is already too long. Just know that I love them both very dearly.

Okay, parallel time!

In this ep we have three couples seated at a table, with Nine and Yai being almost an exact repeat of Hong & Nadear, at least in the beginning. Only, while Hong immediately understands and gives in to Nadear, Nine misunderstands and tries to fix it by being his charming self.

And while Nine and Yai seem more relaxed compared to Mangkorn and Yai, Yai’s conversation with Nine remains superficial (and a safe space) while his conversation(s) with Mangkorn are anything but.

That being said, Nine remains the MVP for treating this cute little caterpillar like the most precious thing it is. He even carries it outside 🥰

I need another moment. 🫠

Oh, how the turntables.

Nine & Yai look so good together.

So it turns out that Mangkorn was trying to fix things by bringing food. I guess acts of service are way easier than talking. Only, uhm, yeah...

I’m guessing Nine kissed Yai first and he just needed a moment to react. Because in the book Yai is quite clear about his feelings being platonic - even if he’s all kinds of dazzled by Nine (which is understandable. He’s perfect lmao).

[olivieraa]

I think one of the greatest things that could ever happen to me just happened, and I'm a lil emotional about it, idek where to start

First of all, its the simple things. I have a voice actor hobby for sure. It never went away. I didn't watch anime for 6-7 years and then coming back, my VA obsession returned immediately. I was like "JUST WATCH THINGS WITHOUT ANALYSING THEIR VOICES FOR FUCKS SAKE" but it didn't happen, it couldn't happen

Aside from rewatches, Banana Fish was a brilliant (sort of) return to anime for me. I got real excited about the amount of boxes it ticked

But I may have found something better

I randomly, and I mean randomly stumbled across this anime

I haven't even read the plot. Idk what its about at all. But a few things caught my eye.

So I've made a couple of posts about Kenjiro Tsuda, the voice of Kaiba, and how his popularity absolutely shot up out of the damn sky and into space thanks to Jujutsu Kaisen. Now he gets roles after roles and is in the top 10 VA's. And it made me really happy cause he's been around for so long and deserves it.

However, Hiroki Takahashi, the voice of Joey, has not had the same luck. He doesn't get many roles, and when he does, they're in... not that great animes. I would know. I watched them for him. It made me sad.

So to ever imagine an anime that they are both present in aside from YGO seemed so far, far off into the distance, esp seeing as they both only got (mostly) shit roles. And now Kenjiro is doing graaaand so its just Hiroki.

Like I said, I stumbled across this anime randomly. First button it hits

Its a BL.

Brilliant. If anyone is under the impression there are a lot of BL's/Yaoi's/Shounen-ais, then you're clueless. There's a massive shortage of gay romance in general, but in anime, its about 1% of existing anime. Lower actually.

Again, I haven't looked at the plot yet, I just like to see who the romantic leads are. First name I spot, Ono Yuuki, the voice of a big fave of mine. My man here

And who is he paired with? Oh... ohoho... no other than my main man of all main mans

And I've made a lot of posts about hearing Joey's voice in things, but 99% of the time I'm talking about the voice actor for season 0 Joey. He's way more famous and gets a lot of roles. The last thing I heard DM Joey in was a dumb anime called Endride in 2016.

So yeah, I'm happy to see him in a modern, leading role in general, but the fact that its a GAY modern leading role is why its extra important.

And they are both two big faves of mine. Rocchi x Joey. I so dig it.

And then what I didn't expect was, just casually over on the right, was my other dudes name

Tsuda Kenjurou

Fucking. Kaiba.

DM Kaiba and DM Joey. In the same anime.

Didn't even think that was possible????

Like wishful thinking is them both having the leading roles but NEVER. I COULD NEVER. Imagine that happening.

Having them in the same anime is enough for me.

BUT A GAY ANIME????????

I HOPE I GET TO SEE THEM INTERACT IN THE GAY ANIME. Even if he looks like some weird blue haired man. IDC.

Like I haven't read anything about this damn thing. Its just impressions. Joey is the dark haired one being teased by the blond? Uh, yeah. I accept. Kaiba's voice is in there somewhere? YEAH, sign me UP.

Also, I spot Uchida Yuuma there as well who played the lead blondie in Banana Fish. Honestly, its Joey reunited with his son.

I was tortured for years with bad animes. Only good animes from now on. Only good things. I'm not accepting anything else.

I am blessed.

And now I have to actually read the plot lmao

[dirtbag-linecook-kyloren]

okay I’m like 300 words from finishing act one BUT I hit 3k so I’m allowed to think more about the running AU

Hux is picky about his shoes. Like, spends a few hours researching before he even goes to a running store to try something on. I’m giving him my stride, mainly, so it’s pretty short, so he favors a thick ass sole. I think he would the Brooks Ghosts as much as I do. They’ve been his main shoe for five years, but he has a trail specific shoe as well. (I have two pairs and I don’t like either for actual trails so I’ll get back to you on that.)

Kylo buys whatever shoe is on sale and feels okay. He doesn’t know what plane his foot rests on, and at this point, he’s too afraid to ask. If they made light up running shoes he’d buy them because they’d make him feel faster. He can string together a good 5k but the second he passes from 3.1 miles to 3.2 he’s fucking dying. It’s entirely mental but Kylo Does Not Know That

Hux has a nice running belt. It’s a four bottle one because he’s a thorsty boy and refuses to wear a hydration pack because they’re silly (and they are but that’s a person thing). He eats at specific mile intervals and has specific snacks for each one. He buys GU in bulk because it’s incredibly nutrition to time-eating efficient.

I think if Kylo even tried to drink while running he’d choke. Like, full fall to the ground can’t breath choke. It’s a skill and he does not fucking have it

Hux plans his routes out before he even has his shoes on. He takes his RunKeeper account very seriously to make sure he’s tracking the wear along all his shoes, and once he passes over 350 miles, they become mowing the lawn shoes.

Kylo doesn’t know how many miles are on his shoes. he also doesn’t know where he’s going, when he runs. He doesn’t track shit, doesn’t even have a watch on him. no earbuds, no nothing. Homeboy is raw dogging running like it’s the 90s.

Hux keeps his bibs from every race over 10K. He gets them framed and as them all over his house. Running is his, like, main hobby. It’s also the reason he eats a gallon of ice cream a week, because runners eat like FUCKING GARBAGE. (This is not a joke. At some point you have to eat Too Much Food to make up for distance running calories and oatmeal cream pies are super calorie dense) That being said he only eats like garbage for 1/4 of his food because that a good balance for him.

Kylo is legit living on ramen and angst. Like, this boy is not eating enough to be running the way he is. When hux learns this he’s going to be horrified,

Hux used to be a chocolate milk after a run person, and now it’s just a chocolate protein powder. Gold standard whey, probably?

Kylo just buys the store brand and he forgets to drink it half the time

I have so many thoughts about the background for this fic and no idea for plot yet but *hands wave* have more thoughts, when it gets a plot and I’m not already working on a fic like my life depends on it, we might do something about this.

What would be a good AU tag for this fic? 13.1 Things I Hate About You is funny to me but Idk

i think that’ll be the working title we can always change it.

(This one will be much shorter I’ve got at most 10k of an idea here but I think that’s enough to be worth writing.)

[twisted-wonderland-but-gayer]

Damn it now I need a fic if Floyd just... protecting Yuu. He already strikes me as the protective type.

Protected by Floyd

This is absolute garbo I made in 10 mins idk if this even makes sense. Enjoy

Gn per usual. Book 4 spoilers

“Shit!” 

You hissed as a few embers of a fire spell flew past your face, singeing the shoulder of your uniform. Jamil’s insane laughter echoes through your head. Just hang in a little longer…!

The feeling of cool water envelops you, and you recognize it as a healing spell from Azul. The water was now acting as a shield between you and the barrage of magic that tried to strike you. You use this opportunity to relax slightly and breathe as Jade covers the team with a few attacks of his own. It would be nice if Azul wasn't the only one with Bind the Heart right now.

"Sea Snakes really pissin’ me off right now!” Floyd groaned behind you, his uniform filled with thorns from a previous assault. A few scratches adorned his face as he prepared his pen to fire another shot. “I think Jamil is pissing everyone off.” Azul snaps back. “Now get behind me, I’ll jam his magic!”

Jade nodded and got into position with Kalim. Grim was quick to also run over. Now it was just you and Floyd. It was a small distance, yes, but with all the spells flying through the air, running to Azul was a bit dangerous. Right now it was better to take over behind a few pieces of knocked-over furniture.

Floyd shifted a few times in front of you. You can practically see the cogs turning in his head as he thinks. Yet the more he paused and thought, the more you can see irritability build up. “Tch, fuck it, I’m goin’.” 

Floyd got up and went into a sprint, catching Jamil’s attention. You could only watch in horror as he charged up another attack. “Floyd watch out!” You yelled, watching as a swarm of projectiles went to lock on Floyd. There was no way he was gonna make it. 

Unless…

You get up and run right behind Floyd, pushing him to the other side towards Azul. Suddenly there was a sharp yet cold pain in your abdomen. Looking down, your vision became blurry as you try to register what happened. There was so much blood. and you cannot even see what it was that stabbed you. Judging by the cold, however, you are guessing some form of ice.

You crumpled to the ground in pain, and curled up, ready to accept your fate. 

“YUU!” Kalim screams out in horror watching the scene unfold. This is the end, you think. The next projectile is bound to lock on and hit you now. It was over. Any second now…

Floyd snarls, a dark look on his face appearing as he approached where you lie in agony, completely ignoring the situation around him. “Floyd! What are you—“ Azul yelled out, reaching out to try and stop the eel from doing something stupid again. Each of his footsteps echoing in your head.

You look up and see Floyd in front of you, fire spell ready to melt the next onslaught of icicles. “D’worry, Yuu I'll save ya. Eels gotta protect their shrimp.”

[annesthaeticc]

Sweet November | Dr Strange x Fem!Reader

Sweet November : Chapter Six-November 12

| Series Summary: “One month.” Stephen said, his gaze intense. He raised his hand, offered it for you to shake. “One month.” you agreed, and shook his hand. The sign of a closed deal. Then he smiled at you, and from that instant, you realized, you just broke rule number one; no falling in love.

| Chapter Warnings: angst! ANGST! idk some domestic scenes

| Word Count: 2018 words

| A/N: hey there! how are you!! i hope ur doing well!! and i hope you enjoy this chapter!! *wink wink*

“You say you’re good at walking out on me, but you’re even better at coming back to me and staying with me, Di.”

Soon as the words left his lips, your hands grasped his shirt to tug him closer, to close the very little distance between you. Lips finally met, crashing against each other like the waves in the ocean finally meeting the shore. It was strong, sudden and full of emotion. You poured your anger and frustration at him in the kiss, as if that would ease the pain of his poisonous words. As if that would erase the pain he caused you. 

The kiss. 

His lips moved against yours, tasting you, teasing you. He hungrily sucked your bottom lip as he cradled your face and backed you against the bricked wall. He took everything from you, because that’s what he is good at. He’s consuming all of you, draining everything that you are, yet you surrendered and tugged at his hair. Silken strands you caressed as the two of you kissed under the November moon. 

He tasted just like what you had imagined, sweet; yet you could taste the bitterness on the tip of your tongue. His lips came down on you over and over, kissing you hard every time. 

He couldn’t keep his eyes open whilst kissing you. He feared if he did, and saw you, he would immediately lose all of his sense and become an embarrassment. And so he let his lips lead, his hand touching you. Stephen lightly pressed your carotid artery where he could feel your thundering heartbeat. You moaned as you felt the pressure and a growl escape his already parted and kiss-swollen lips. 

The kiss. 

When the two of you broke away for some needed air, he planted his forehead against yours, his heavy breaths mingling with yours. 

“I really fucking hate you,” you whispered and you felt a chuckle vibrate within his chest. 

“And I— I,”

“What?”

“I think I’m gonna pass out.” he quietly said and you let out a laugh. 

“We just kissed and you’re going to pass out on me? Jesus, you poor man,” you chuckled but it was soon replaced with a gasp when he really passed out. 

A damn kiss. A kiss that haunted your dream, playing over and over like an old and broken VCR tape. You woke up with a gasp, body suddenly shooting up from the mattress. It was so bright and it made your eyes hurt. So you rubbed your eyes and squinted around. You then realized you crashed on Stephen’s sofa in his penthouse. 

It wasn’t just the bright sunlight that streamed through the floor to ceiling windows, nor the dream; the memory of last night replaying in your head, but also the sound of someone retching their guts out into the toilet, that woke you up. 

You quickly got up and raced to the other side of the room, not giving a care if you were entering his bedroom and his bathroom. He left the bathroom door open, and there he was, in his full glory, Dr. Stephen Strange vomiting last night’s alcohol overconsumption. 

In instinct you reached out for the tumbler that sat on the marble sink and filled it with water. You kneeled beside him, glass of water in your hand, your other hand reaching out to run it up and down his back, trying to soothe him. He ducked down once again, emptying his stomach of alcohol. 

Tiredly, he let himself sink into the floor, his back hitting the wall. He groaned and blinked away the tears that threatened to fall. 

“Oh my fucking God,” he cursed as another wave of nausea hit him once again. 

“Here,” you passed him the glass of water and he took it wordlessly. 

He drank it one gulp and you watched him sigh in relief as he downed the glass onto the tiled floor. You refilled it and rummaged around his cabinet for an aspirin. Once again, he took it without any word falling out of his lips. You leaned against the sink as he stayed there on the floor, motionless, eyes closed. 

“Can doctors call in sick?” you quietly said, trying to fill the silence, alleviate the tension. 

“Of course we can. But this is the very first time I’ll call in sick,” he replied, eyes still closed. 

“Right.” you exhaled and awkwardly rubbed your arms. 

“Remind me again, how come you’re here?” 

“You asked, no, begged me to stay, Stephen.” you said, the memory of last night is still fresh in your memory bank. 

You remember struggling to hold him upright as he garbled incoherent words, trying to help him stand and lean on the elevator railing. You remember attempting to open his security code as he drunkenly murmured the numbers. You remember him crashing unceremoniously on his king sized bed, fully clothed and groaning how his head hurts so much. 

You remember taking your leave, only to be pulled back by him, his hand grasping your wrist. You remember hearing him say, “Stay. Please.” 

“Right,” he echoed your words and slowly stood up. He walked out of the bathroom and you followed him, only to proceed in the main room to gather your belongings, ready to leave. 

He asked you to stay, and you did. But you couldn’t stay much longer, as you are reminded of the things he said, words he’ll never take back and apologize for. 

You were zipping up your bag when you heard him enter the room and say, “Can’t stay for breakfast?” 

Avoiding eye contact you hummed and replied, “Guess I can.” Staying for breakfast will save you from making yourself one, you’ll just have to endure the tension. 

Stephen let you prepare the coffee as he silently prepared and cooked breakfast. Leaning back against the marble counter, you waited for the coffee. You looked down at your shoes, seeming it more interesting than your thoughts about the man standing a few inches next to you. 

“Are you okay?” he asked and you said, “Just tired.” 

“I’m sorry for making you stay overnight, I bet the sofa wasn’t that comfortable.” 

“Are you really?” you snickered and that made him snap his neck to look at you, “besides, it’s fine. Your sofa is much better than mine.” 

“I really am.” he quietly replied as he cracked the egg open. 

“It’s okay. If any friend of mine is going through a tough night and a hangover morning, I would just do the same.” 

“A friend? I’m your friend?” 

“Unfortunately, you are. Whether you like it or not,” you sighed and focused on pouring the coffee after the machine beeped. 

“I don’t deserve that title,” he snickered and did the same, focused on his task, not risking a glance at you. 

“You don’t. You’re always mean to me, and you hurt me with what you said last night. But as I told you, I’m nice and if you’re a friend, you’re a friend.” 

“Diana,” he sighed, about to say something but you cut him off with a question, “How do you take it?” pointing at the cup of coffee. 

“I— oh uh, black with two sugars.” he said and you nodded. 

You helped set the table, careful not to break the fine china. You sat across from him, still trying to avoid looking him in the eye, because you feared that you might break down if you saw his blue eyes, those blue eyes that told you you’re better at coming back at him and staying with him, those eyes that told you the truth. 

“I’m sorry,” he suddenly said. 

“What?”

“I said, ‘I’m sorry’,” he reiterated. 

“It’s okay,” 

“For God’s sake, why can’t you just say you forgive me?” 

“Do you even know what you’re apologizing for, Stephen? Do you?” you matched his energy and put down your fork. His silence meant only one thing. 

“No, you don’t know. Because you were drunk and I bet you barely remember what happened last night. So no, I can’t just say I forgive you,” 

“You’re wrong,” he said and suddenly stood up. He rounded the kitchen table and stood next to you. 

“Look at me.” he said, his voice subtly commanding you. “Stephen,” you sighed and forced yourself to not bend to his will. 

“Di, please look at me,” he said, voice almost like a whisper. He gently grasped your chin, thumb gently caressing your skin. With another sigh, you gave in; eyelashes fluttering, eyes blinking away the tears that threatened to spill. 

“I remember some of it.” he said, and you felt his thumb gently brush the outline of your lips, too close to actually touching your lips with his finger.

“Stephen, don’t please,” you quietly begged. 

But you felt him draw close to you, slowly shifting and closing the distance between you. You wanted to pull him closer and stop the agony of waiting, but your mind screamed, alarm bells ringing of warning. You wanted nothing but to kiss him again, relive what had happened last night outside the bar. You wanted nothing but to drive him crazy and drive him to sanity at the same time, so that he’ll finally know what he was apologizing for. 

His lips were now ghosting over yours, and one movement would send the two of you kissing and soon, making out on the marble counter. You wanted to go on, but you also wanted to stop. You couldn’t break the rules anymore. 

“No, please,” you whispered and planted your hand against his chest. 

Stephen stepped back and exhaled, when he looked up at you, you were doing just the same, only with your eyes closed, taking in a deep breath. 

“Funny how you remember that,” you quietly said to yourself, and looked away to blink away the tears that were escaping. 

“Do you know, do you remember what you said last night, Stephen?” you cried and hopped down the breakfast stool. 

Stephen looked at you , really looked and for once, he felt absolutely clueless on what to do. He wanted to wipe away the tears that were running down your cheeks, he wanted to bring you close, tell you how sorry he was, and beg for your forgiveness. He wanted to look away, and escape the room. 

Despite the tears, you scoffed and marched away from the kitchen. You couldn't stay anymore. His space was so big yet it crowded you, making you breathless in every step. 

“Go ahead, Stephen. Call me names, tease me all you want, I don’t care. But don’t you ever dare insult me for what I do, because unlike you, I’m not privileged enough to earn shit tons of money on a snap of a finger,” you slung your bag on your shoulder as he walked into the room. 

“Diana, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it,” he pleaded and you let out a sarcastic laugh. 

“And I bet you don’t mean this apology,” 

“I really am sorry, Di,” he said, his voice cracking and fading into a whisper. “Somehow, I’m finding that hard to believe,” you replied, your hand on the doorknob.

“And you don’t get to call me ‘Di’, after all of the things you said Stephen.” you finished your speech, turned the handle, and exited his space, the door crashing loudly against the hinges. 

Stephen stood in his spot for a long time, still wearing his jogger pants and matching gray t-shirt. He stared at the door and the loud bang of the timber still ringing in his ears. He felt so out of place. He felt so small. So clueless. So powerless. 

For the very first time in his life, he didn’t know what would be the best remedy, what would be the best way to fix his mistake. Once again, he felt a familiar feeling. He felt his past flash through his eyes, the day he lost his sister. It was a sudden tragedy, one he wasn’t prepared for, one he struggled to move on from.

Right then and there he realized, he cannot lose you.

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[shurisneakers]

harmless (viii)

Summary: Bucky volunteers to go stop a small time villain, but nothing can prepare him for what exactly he has to deal with. (Bucky x villain!reader, drabble series)

Warnings: cursing, protesting, frustrated bucky, dramatic reader, gamer (derogatory), smidge of angst

Word count: 3.5k

A/N: listen idk what goes on at construction site and im too sexy to research so we’re going with my version of the world. hello. how are we all doing?

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333

Previous Part || Series Masterlist

He doesn’t expect to see you on TV. 

In jail maybe, for something scandalous and completely unnecessary, but not TV.

But there you are, a sign board waving around furiously in your hand, voice in protest against the demolition of the community centre. You’re flipping the board back and forth to alternate between the messages you’ve scrawled on the cardboard.

You were among a few protesting, but clearly the loudest. 

He thinks that maybe he has the weekend off if you’re too busy fighting big corporations. He’d send his support even.

Until he zeroes in on the sign when it flips over, finally reading what it says.

You better get your ass here, sarge

And so he does.

Half the crowd had dipped by the time he arrived. You were there, still the loudest, but he couldn’t help but notice the lack of people as compared to an hour or two ago on TV. He supposed that justice could wait as long as it took to get lunch from the nearest café.

“I can’t stop you from protesting, y’know.” He’s a little wary of approaching your raging self. 

“Oh, hey Barnes. You got my message.” You break away for a second to scream a bunch of obscenities at the gigantic glass building before turning to him. “You wouldn’t be able to.”

“What’s your dumb plan then?” 

“First of all, it’s not dumb. It’s stupid. Put some respect on my technological genius.” You held up a finger. “Second of all, it’s not here.”

“Where is it?” 

“At the construction site.” You point down the road. “Come on.”

Right along the way you stop to chant another slogan. He waves his arm around meekly in support. He did, after all, have to stand up for what was right, but if his publicist saw him here she’d have an aneurysm. 

The construction site isn’t very far off. It’s adjacent to the community centre, which he assumes they’re going to tear down to make more space for whatever shitty commercial building was going to take its place.

There are already a few excavators and dozers there but no one to man them since it was lunch time. What garners his attention is the small silver plate that’s on the floor a few feet ahead in the direction you’re walking towards.

“Here.” You stop once it nears. “The plan.”

“Am I supposed to know what this is?” He lightly kicked at it, earning a smack on the arm from you.

“Stop that,” you scolded, “and look at it. It’s not hard to figure out.”

He narrows his eyes. There’s a small u-shaped piece of metal in the middle of the plate. “That’s a magnet.”

“Exactly.” You clapped your hands together in excitement. “The world’s strongest electromagnet.”

He looks around. The only possibly magnetic things are the cranes and excavators around him.

“You’re going to... stop the machines from moving ahead?” he hesitates in his deduction. 

“Yep. Can’t tear anything down if they can’t get to it first.” 

Bucky looks down.

“Does this thing even work?” He toes at it again. “It’s kinda small.”

“It works beautifully, stop kicking at it, you demon-”

“What happens if I step on it, huh?” He knows this would get on your nerves wonderfully. He raises his leg. “Do I get to go home for the day?”

“You’re such a little shit,” you whine, reaching for your back pocket. “Stop bullying my invention.”

“’m gonna squish it like a bug.” He’s only half kidding about that part. “I’m gonna-”

Before he can finish his sentence something yanks him down hard. His head nearly hits the ground before his right arm shoots out to break his fall.

"Woah there, don't go falling for me as yet.” 

“What the fu-” he begins, eyes locking on his metal arm that was pressed flat against the earth.

“I told you it works,” you say smugly. “Try crushing it now, Barnes. If you can even get off the floor.”

He tugs his hand but it’s firmly attached to the thing. No matter how or where he’s applying the effort, his limb refuses to move. He’s stuck.

“Turn it off,” he sighs. “You made your point.”

“No. Stay there.”

“Y/N, shut up and turn this off,” he groans, trying to find a better position rather than chin down on the ground.

“Lay there and rot. You deserve it for underestimating me.” You huff.

“I wasn’t underestimating you, Jesus Christ.” He really was planning to just step on it, but he had complete faith that it worked. 

When he doesn’t receive a reply, his gaze follows yours. Suddenly the crane looks a lot closer than it initially did. Awesome. 

“Those are moving towards me.” He picks up on the low groan and creak of metal.

“Yeah, they are.” You nod, one hand on your hip, watching them.

He didn’t think that getting crushed under construction equipment would be how his day went. 

“Not my problem,” you decide finally after a bout of silence. 

Now that simply wouldn’t do. 

Death was definitely a problem, but what was more important was that he was going to get a dust allergy from the mud. He could already feel the blocked nose and temperature incoming.

“Are you really going to waste this on me? Don’t you have a demolition to stop?” He manages to twist his body so that he’s lying on his back.

“Good point,” you squint into the distance at the whirring of the heavy machinery. Their owners wouldn’t be happy to find them missing from their original spot. “But I still can’t help you out.”

“You’re willing to sacrifice your-”

“I can’t help you out because I don’t have an off switch. Yet,” you add the last part in a hurry.

“Then when the fuck were you planning to build one?” He sits up, leaning on his elbow. The cranes weren’t a mini object on the horizon now; the closer they got, the faster they were starting to move towards him. 

“I don’t know, after they agreed not to take down the building?”

He could just detach his arm and come back for it later he but had no guarantee that you would stop here for the day or that the vibranium could withstand all that pressure. 

“You better make a switch right now and get me out of this, I don’t care how.”

“Yeah, yeah,” you grumbled, bending to assess how badly he was stuck. “You know, this thing runs really deep into the earth. It’d take forever to dig back up and then get you back to my lab and then build a switch.”

“How long?” He didn’t have a lot of time, clearly, but even generally he didn’t have the whole day to waste. He had a mission the next day. He had to put the fear of death into some Russians and bring some pirozhki back for Nat. 

“I don’t know,” you furrowed your eyebrows. “Too long for my schedule anyway, I have class prep to do.”

“Motherfucke- that thing’s like twenty feet away.” He’s worried about how you don’t look fazed at all when he points at the stupid machine.

He’s about to volunteer to detach his arm when he realises it’s definitely less than twenty feet now. He had a backup just in case. It didn’t move as smoothly, but who could tell the difference when a couple of tons of pressure was aiming for your face, and hell, if he explained his circumstances of the destruction of his arm to T’Challa-

“Okay, fine.” You reach into your backpack to grab something that looked like a wrist watch. It matched the one already around your hand. 

You reach over and clasp it around his hand before turning a dial on the side.

“You ready?” you ask, ignoring the large crane that was starting to charge towards you. 

“For what?” he replies, looking down at it. He can barely hear you over the sound of the whining of machinery.  

“Teleportation, baby.” You send him a big grin before slamming down on his watch.

“Huh-” His voice cuts off immediately. 

If there’s anything that can be said about teleportation, it’s that he feels like every atom in his entire body violently splits to float around briefly before suddenly rejoining again.  

The ground beneath him feels different, and it takes him a second to realise that he was on the floor of your lair. 

“What the fu-”

“Hello,” your voice comes from above him. 

“You can teleport.” It’s not difficult for him to look at you now without the sun in his face. His arm is still stuck to the magnet but since the giant rod it was attached to was no longer deep in the ground, he could lift the entire apparatus up relatively easily.

“What, like it’s hard?” You discarded your bag on the floor. “You good? Takes a while to get used to.”

He gives you a grunt in acknowledgement, shaking his arm to see if he had any luck. It didn’t budge.

“Come on, take a seat.” You gesture to a lab chair you’ve pulled up for him on the raised platform at the front of the room. He realises that this is the first time he’s properly seen what’s actually inside your lair.

There are various buttons that do God knows what, drawers and cabinets painted black, several computer screens and gigantic pillars of glass on either side of the set up that encapsulate some green bubbling liquid. There’s a giant television set up against the wall, divided into several screens.

“Whaddya think?” You do a small swoop of your arm to show off the place.

“Gamer,” he says simply, testing his luck.

“What did you just say to me?” you recoil instantly, disgust on your face.

“It’s a gamer set up.” He points a finger at the TV screen. He was told by Shuri to use it as an insult, but he wasn’t exactly sure why. It just felt appropriate. 

“Take that back right now.” You raise a finger accusatorially at him.

“No.” He was sticking with it even though he had no idea what exactly the context was.

“Fuck your arm,” you announce, throwing your hands up in surrender.

“Fuck your demolition then,” he replies simply, getting up from his place on the chair to leave with the thing still attached to him. 

He takes one step ahead before your voice rings out.

“Sit down, drama queen,” your voice calls from behind him. “God, you’re annoying.”

“You’re infuriating.”

“I’m the best part of your week,” you fire back, ”and also your only way out of this. Now sit down.”

He didn’t even need the second warning, he was already on the chair the first time around.

“I’m not going to build a switch to turn this off. It’d take too long,” you examine the piece of equipment with more gentleness than he was expecting, “I’m going to remove it instead. It’s gonna take a while, so you better get comfortable.”

“I’m not.”

“That’s so sad,” you say without any indication of wanting to help. 

He rolls his eyes.

You pull up next to him, welding glasses covering your face and the tool in your hand. 

He turns away when you start, making sure his face is not directly within its trajectory. 

He makes himself busy by looking around some more. There are details you’ve put into the place, materials that are non-flammable made up most of the architecture. It’s dramatic, sure, but somehow the designs and colours seemed to go together. It did look sinister, he’d give you props for that.

The space was quite big. It occurs to him only then that that’s how you manage to sneak up on him so often in the past. Everything clicked. Fucking teleportation.

“So,” your voice was raised to speak over the noise. “How’s it going?”

He decidedly doesn’t answer. His position is more than enough.

“Right.” You clear your throat. 

He takes to counting the tiles on the floor, figuring out how many were there from the raised platform to the wall of the entrance. 

“Not how you imagined your day to go, huh?” you continued despite his lack of response. “But some might say it’s a privilege to be spending the day with a cool, mad scie-”

“Are you going to keep talking?” he interrupts, losing his count on the floor.

“Yeah, duh,” you say like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “You got anything better to do?”

He didn’t. 

“What’s it like living with a bunch of superheroes?” You change course. He’s not sure if he’s really allowed to disclose top secret information. “I assume there’s a lot of protein shakes, talcum powder for the chafing-”

Then again, how much damage could you do by knowing that Steve preferred pancakes over waffles?

“It’s quiet,” he says. “Most of the time.”

“Save all your smart talking for the battlefield, huh?” 

He doesn’t reply. It’s quiet around the Tower. A lot of their energy goes towards missions and recuperating once they’re back. 

“You go on missions a lot?” 

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Boo, you whore,” you say with mock disappointment.

He got that reference.

“What’s your favourite food then?”

He scrunches his eyebrows.

“What?” The welding stops for a second while you look at him. “Don’t tell me that’s classified too.”

It’s not, he’s just never thought about it. 

“I don’t know,” he murmurs, “Pasta?”

“Vague, but I’ll take it.”

He used to boil a lot of pasta, from what he could remember of his days in hiding. Cheap and bought in bulk before he saved up enough to buy things like fruits. A lot of the times the amount of sauce he had access to was enough for maybe seasoning, not a whole component on its own. 

It’s one of the perks of being a free man in the 21st century he thinks, a steaming bowl of fettuccini drenched in sauce and garlic bread on the side. 

“What do you do in your downtime?”

“Nothing.” Well, he considers it to be a pass time and doing nothing is a full time gig. It takes effort to do nothing. He even has days dedicated to doing nothing, as suggested to him by his therapist.

“Really?” You sound a little surprised, although it’s hard to make out when you’re already speaking a lot louder than usual. “No shining your penny collection? No software update for this thing?” You tap at his arm. 

There really isn’t anything. Truth be told, he thinks he’s the most boring guy in the Tower. He sticks to himself, has a few succulents that he adores and occasionally watches trashy television. So then why are you so interested in him?

“You’re obsessed with me,” he says pointedly. “Why?”

You give a short laugh. “I think it’s the blue eyes, sarge, they’re really popping today. Gotta say, I’m loving this colour on you. Is it different from the black you wore last week? And from the one from the week before that?”

He looks down at his dark t-shirt and utility pants. He had other clothes but those were reserved for things that were not this.

“Or maybe it’s the grumpiness, I don’t know. I love it when someone shows absolutely no interest in me. Very sexy of you.” Oh jeez, you were going to continue. “Hell, maybe it’s the thighs-”

“Okay,” he interjects, feeling the need to count the tiles more than ever. He equates the heat in his neck from the welding going on beside him. 

The loudness of your laughter is clearer than the sound of metal on metal when you tug a large piece of the invention off. Things were moving fast. He could get back home to his Star Trek marathon and forget this day ever happened.

“You know, you’re more interesting than you think,” you pipe up casually. 

He doesn’t expect this and therefore he supposes he can’t stop the curiosity from enveloping his face. He hasn’t told you anything about himself, so then the inference you reached came out of nowhere.

Apparently, you take notice of the confusion on his face, even though he can’t see through the giant welding mask, because you let out a chuckle. 

“Oh, come on, really? You have no idea?” you ask lightly, pausing to see if he offers anything other than silence. “You’ve come back almost every week even though you know it’s a waste of your time, you always keep your promises and I know for a fact that if you wanted to stop me once and for all, you could have. But you’re not.”

He doesn’t realise you’ve stopped welding until you start again. Good, it gives him an excuse not to have to look at you after that. 

Frankly, he’s a little stunned.

You’re not looking at him, he can tell from his peripheral vision. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you have a small crush on me.”

At that, he’s forced to roll his eyes out of instinct. Thankfully you do know better.

A few screws out later, another piece comes out. You inform him that’s it’s going to get trickier from there since the circuit was a little more intricate, a lot more time than the original few pieces. He can see his Star Trek marathon fade away in the distance.

You ask him a few more questions. Some he answers with silence, others maybe a tidbit here and there. 

“How’s dating now compared to the forties?”

“Strange.” He purses his lips in thought. “One guy asked for a gym date. Didn’t know that was a thing.”

“How’d that turn out?” you laugh.

“He didn’t ask for a second one.” His Bumble matches with girls somehow had gone down since he cut his hair, but he’s not too bothered. Not like there was a huge shortage. 

He likes cats, thinks the worst merchandise that they make is the stupid baseball card with his face on it, and doesn’t have social media for the sake of his sanity. He’s seen the thirst tweets. 

Clearly, he’s revealed his deepest, darkest secrets. Utterly classified material. But he doesn’t know anything about you other than your name, number, address, where you teach, what your hobby is-

“You, uh-” he hesitates, “You got a favourite food?”

Your hands hold still to hover above what they’re working on. You fight back a smile. “Sure do.”

He asks a few more questions. Shuts up when he feels his social battery drain. That’s enough for the next month, he thinks.

The sun’s dipped down beyond the horizon by the time majority of the work is completed. Both of you have taken a few breaks to fight the feeling of stiffness that was creeping into your joints. 

You scoff and tell him you’re not planning to poison him when he denies the offer of a soda. He doesn’t deter in his decision.

“How much to go?” He has a mission tomorrow that he’d really like to get some sleep in before. Waking up at 3am to get ready was the worst part of the job. 

“Basically done.” You roll your chair back, rotating your shoulder and stretching your fingers. “There’s just this little part that I can’t access from this angle. How good are you at hanging upside down like a bat?”

Fuck it, he sighs to himself, it was almost finished anyway.

Bucky stands up, tilting his neck to the side slightly before pulling at a small latch under his arm, one so tiny that you’d never make out was even there unless you knew it existed. The arm releases from his shoulder with a small click.

He offers it to you, a piece of your magnet still attached to it.

Your eyes are slightly wide. He raises his eyebrows.

You don’t say anything, just accept it and flip it to a position you were comfortable with. It takes only a minute or two for the sound of the last piece hitting the floor to reverberate through the hall.

You give a small cheer. He lets out a tiny exhale in equal parts fatigue and relief.

“So,” you drawl, handing his arm back to him, “you could have just done that the whole time.”

He doesn’t reply, just slides it back onto his shoulder. 

“You had the option of leaving your arm here and coming back later to get it.” 

He gives it a few shakes, opens and clenches his fist shut a few times to make sure everything is working.

“You wanted to talk to me.”

He gives you a deadpan look. “I was distracting you.”

“Bullshit,” you laugh.

“Believe what you must.” He shrugs, turning around. “My job here is done regardless.”

“Oh, I believe alright,” you call out from behind him as he walks towards the entrance of your lair. “I believe you’re a sneaky bastard, Bucky Barnes.”

He doesn’t stop himself from smiling at the overdramatic gasp you give when he flips you a middle finger. From the metal arm, too. 

Next part

[sexhaver]

do u think elden ring speed runs are so fast bc the game is still so new meaning more bugs? (Idk if those runs rely on exploits cuz I’m not trying to spoil myself) or is it like less linear than other fromsoft games or smth ?? like I’ve been watching soulsborne speed runs since i got ER and they’re crazy fast to me but less than an hour seems relatively rare for those. 7 minutes seems so EXTREME lmao

so the thing about speedrunning soulsborne games is that they generally all work the same under the hood, with a few minor differences here and there between the games that allow for more specific tricks. this is why techniques like using the Cat Ring/Hush spell/Silvercat Talisman/etc and quitting out right as you hit the ground to survive lethal falls, wrong warps, and triggering the death plane camera without actually dying to run through unloaded areas are common in all 3 dark souls games, along with bloodborne, sekiro, and demon's souls. the first week or so of speedrunning a new game will usually fall back on these tried and tested techniques to get some obvious sequence breaks before some game-specific trick is discovered that blows the unrestricted any% category wide open.

for Sekiro, this technique was airswimming. for Dark Souls 2, it was parrywalking. for Dark Souls 3, it was the teardrop glitch. all of these glitches require you to perform an extremely precise set of actions at a very specific spot, but reward you with the ability to clip out of bounds and basically just walk (or swim) directly to the final boss. the Elden Ring equivalent to this is called "zips", which let you teleport forward a truly absurd amount of distance, like, literally halfway across the game map in one frame at one point. however, while the first three glitches i mentioned require a fair amount of setup and have to be done in specific places, zips don't and don't, respectively. you perform a zip by holding Block while moving forwards for a very specific amount of frames, and some interaction between the block animation and the walk animation zips you to God knows where. the timing is really difficult to get down, and it feels inconsistent because you need a steady 60fps in a game that gets random lag spikes for fun, but you can do this literally anywhere. this has opened up routing immensely.

before runners figured out how to do zips consistently, the WR route hovered around 30ish minutes and actually involved fighting some enemies. the current sub-7-minute route completely skips most of the game, including getting access to your horse, using zips and a few wrong warps. the route goes like this:

as soon as you leave the starting building, instead of dying to the tutorial boss, zip yourself into the very end of Stormveil Castle and then walk out the back door into Liurnia. side note: if youre playing casually and haven't beaten Godrick yet, the speedrun is now already ahead of you about 30 seconds in

zip from there to the Raya Lucaria bonfire (the pvp hotspot one), then zip from there to the Four Belfries

pick up an Imbued Stonesword Key and use it to open a portal to Crumbling Farum Azula, an extreme endgame area. this teleports you to a platform way the fuck off to the side, giving you a preview of the area like 60 hours before you actually get there

lol just kidding, fast travel and alt+f4 at the right time to perform a wrong warp and respawn at the normal starting spot for CFA

using zips, get from the starting area to [SPOILER]'s boss room. bear in mind that your character has never leveled up (or even sat at a site of grace) and is still using the starting equipment

lol just kidding kill him by zipping out of the arena twice so he falls to his death when the floor unloads under him (have to do this twice because he has two phases)

this teleports you to [SPOILER]. walk 2 feet from your spawn point and perform a zip to skip directly to the final final boss fight, skipping about 10 minutes of running and 2 bosses in the process

perform one final "mega zip" to yeet yourself literally to the farthest possible corner of the world map. if you do it right you'll get pulled back into the fight with the boss you skipped over

but the final final boss is already registered as dead, so you just need to stall for like 5 seconds before the GOD SLAIN message pops up. the route used to do this by quitting out at a specific time but now just deliberately dies to a piledriver from the boss because it's way funnier and doesn't actually lose any time

you spawn in directly in front of [SPOILER]. walk forward 2 feet, press Interact, and stop the timer

[eremiie]

i dont know if its ok to ask but- jealous possesive eren pleassee.. tyy🤸‍♀️

no, nothing;

❥ eren x reader | 2.4k words | modern au

❥ content: possessive eren wooo, wall sex??, cum play i guess

❥ a/n; yes yes this is late idk what happened??? anyways this is season 4 eren, that’s the vibes this gives me

"what are you doing?"

eren had your jaw in between his fingertips, head pointed up towards him yet eyes darting around to avoid his gaze.

you hated when he was like this— when he thought every little interaction with anyone other than him was some kind of advancement. it irked your nerves, yet your mouth stayed quiet and you stayed compliant when he spoke to you, when he confronted you.

your fingers danced up and down the material of his sweats to distract yourself. "nothing." your voice came out in a low mumble, nervous that if you spoke any louder than you were, eren would find it offensive.

"nothing?"

at least to you it was nothing, only a couple minutes ago before eren called you to stand in between his legs from where he was perched on the railing of the stairs, you were a distance away with your other friends, namely sasha, jean and connie.

it was late at night, moon in the sky as the five of you goofed off in front of connie and sasha's apartment. you had no reason to be out so late— other than the fact that you all were bored. you'd decided to get together at their shared apartment for a small get together but the house quickly became a bore.

connie tried to teach you a skateboard trick that sasha couldn't seem to get the hang of, although he deemed it as "one of the easiest tricks to learn." and since the title of the trick was self proclaimed, you wanted to try to see if it really was that easy. you didn't see any harm in that, you didn't see any harm when you finally attempted the trick and almost fell back, the rough surface of the skateboard flying out from underneath you and jean having to catch you before you injured yourself.

the four of you had a moment of laughter, and you had thanked jean for catching you. you didn't process what you were doing at the time because once again— you found nothing wrong with what you were doing. you found nothing wrong when your hands were encased with connie's for him to steady you, because it was just to steady you. you found nothing wrong when his hands were around your waist to prevent you from falling, and you found nothing wrong when you and jean were play fighting, you getting him back for letting the smoke from the joint ghost right in your face.

but eren did, he always did. every little gesture that was just friendly to you was flirty to him, every little gesture that mean nothing meant something in his eyes. it was irritating, you could always feel his eyes burning into your back, and you always felt like you had to watch your back. you felt like prey that was constantly being hunted, constantly being stalked and watched.

eren took a drag of the joint between the fingertips of his other hand, turning his head to the side to blow the smoke out before looking back down at you again. his gaze was intimidating, the way his eyes were low lidded in boredom— as if he's not surprised. like you have done this before and still haven't learned, even though there was nothing to learn, and a viridian stare that felt like it was looking right through you didn't help to ease the tense feeling in your muscles either.

"what do you mean nothing? you didn't see how they were all over you?" he asked you, tone low much like yours earlier, except it was steady and made you shrink from below him.

do you shake your head no? you didn't see how they were "all over you," but no didn't seem like a good answer for you, then again, you had no reason to lie to him.

"no."

you felt the tips of his fingers on your jaw tighten. eren let out a small incredulous laugh, as if he was in disbelief with your answer. wasn't it obvious? how could you not see the way they were touching you, messing with you, they were practically trying to make eren upset, they always did, and he didn't know how he was the only one who saw it.

his eyes trailed over your body, almost as if he was searching for something. "look at what you're wearing." your eyes skimmed over your attire. it was simple, his jacket draped over your shoulders at his request, covering both you shirt and your shorts completely as it was too big on you.

"eren, theres nothing wrong with what i'm wearing, they don't care,"

"how do you know?" eren furrowed his eyebrows at you in confusion, or maybe slight frustration at the fact that you weren't getting it. his hand dropped down from your jaw to your neck, resting it there while his thumb smoothed over your jawline in a relaxing manner if it wasn't for the conversation at hand. "baby, you're not watching them, i am."

the joint was brought back up to his mouth as he took another hit before letting go of you and sliding off the railing. "sasha," he called out for the girl, her hickory ponytail whipping as she looked towards the two of you. "here." his hand was out with the drug in hand, using his fingers to beckon her over to retrieve it while his other hand snaked around your waist pulling you close to him in a possessive manner.

sasha scurried over from where she was sat on the concrete, saying something to jean and connie before jogging over. "where are you guys going?" she asked as she plucked the joint from eren's fingers, putting it up to her own lips.

"______ needs to get something in the house, we'll be back in a minute."

you shuffled on your feet at his words— you didn't have anything to get.

sasha dismissed the two of you with a nod of her head, walking back over to the other two and repeating what eren said as he took you up the stairs of the apartment complex. he twisted the knob to the apartment until the door swung open, pushing you inside and shutting the door behind the two of you.

"eren, what—" his hand flew to your hips to push you against the door, your back hitting it with a thud that you were sure could've been heard by someone on the other side of the door. he towered over you, eyebrows coming together in aggravation.

"why can't you just fucking listen?" his question came out laced with venom, and you let out a small whimper with how tight he was holding you in place, his hips pressing into yours keeping the distance between the two of you almost nonexistent. "i'm not just saying this shit for no reason, you don't need to be letting them touch all over you. is that what you want?"

"eren—"

"huh?"

you repressed rolling your eyes and held your tongue, not responding to him once more. it almost seemed like your favorite thing to do— leaving him without a response, leaving what you were thinking up for interpretation although it looked like he already knew what you were thinking.

"i'm just trying to do you a favor." he murmured as he studied your face, grip softening just like the features on his face when you didn't respond, only a small pout gracing your features. his hand dipped down until it was underneath the fabric of his jacket, smoothing over the skin on your hip when it slipped between your shorts and shirt. "here,"

his mouth came down to kiss your forehead before pecking kissed down the side of your face, and you closed your eyes. you were used to this, it was the same process every time, he'd get envious, talk to you about it as if it was your fault, and then try to sweet talk you, convince you that it's you, and that it's okay, as if there was an issue in the first place. it happened every time.

eren let both of his hands slide to your ass, lifting you up until you were pushed against the door and leveled with his face. he held you up by your thighs, pressing his self into you and continuing his kisses down your neck.

his teeth nibbled at the soft skin and you held back the noises trying to elicit from your throat. it felt good, it did, he felt warm against you, and despite how he tended to act sometimes; you felt safe when you had him so close to you.

"since you seem to forgot," his hands moved quick, one of them wrapping around your torso to hold you up while the other one moved to pull down your shorts. the cold air of the apartment hit your legs all too quick— goosebumps spreading over your skin that were quickly soothed by eren's warm hand smoothing over your thigh once more. "let me remind you who you belong to."

and there he went, grinding himself against you, attacking your neck with kisses, you were sure he left a couple hickeys that'd be visible in the right lighting.

eren groaned when his finger went down to pull your underwear aside, the warm slick from your cunt meeting the side of his fingers.

he brought his hand up to his mouth, tongue sliding over his index finger as he tasted you, and you bit your lip feeling yourself clench around nothing.

eren shuffled to untie his sweatpants with one hand, then pulling them to his thighs along with his boxers before holding your underwear to the side and sliding into you with one quick motion. "fuck," he groaned feeling you sheath him inside of you.

a soft moan left your parted lips and you grabbed onto eren for support, your fingers twisting the fabric of his shirt as you held onto him, like how he held on to your waist.

his head buried into your shoulder as he pulled out and back into you, groaning into your neck as he continued to kiss you, your back hitting the door with every thrust. "oh, shit—" your sentence came out choppy, every stroke of his was hard, cause you to jolt up every time.

one of eren's hands went down to rub at your thighs before trailing back up your back to grab a fistful of your hair, pulling your head back to expose your neck more to him. you winced, but the hold he had on your hair soon felt like nothing when his lips were on your skin again.

"nobody fucks you like this, yeah?" his voice came out muffled as he spoke against your neck.

you struggled to respond, pleasure was flooding your body and you almost felt incoherent with the way he was fucking you, it felt all too good, it always felt too good. it was something about the way he wanted to fuck you and let you know that you were his, and that you'll never be anyone else's.

"yes, yes." your voice was shaky, and you could feel eren smiling against you. he let go of your locks and moved his hand just a little bit further south to grab your neck instead.

he sped his pace up, and your hips moved to get him deeper— you were practically impaling yourself on him, every time he fucked up into you, you tried to meet his hips.

the lewd noises between the two of you were dirty, they made eren want to fuck you harder, knowing that despite everything that was happening moments ago you were always ready to let him fuck you good. "god, eren," you choked out, feeling his hand around your neck tighten.

you weren't worried about anything else— not about the fact that the other three could walk in at any moment, not about the black spots that were appearing in the corner of your eyes, not about the fact that this was supposed to be your lesson. you were only worried about the way his cock slid against your walls, the way that small tinge of pain made your body jerk when he would hit your cervix yet feel so good at the same time. your were worried about how your clit would hit the fabric of his shirt every time he fucked into you, and how close you were.

and by the way his hips were stuttering, the way his movements were becoming more sloppy, and his grip loosening on your neck, you knew he was close too. "what?" he breathed out, it almost sounded like a pant.

"i'm gonna cum," you moaned, and he dropped his hand from your neck to reach in between the two of you, thumb rubbing your clit in large messy circles until you tightened around eren, a cry of what could have only been his name leaving you as you came around him.

his eyes screwed shut as he felt your slick run down him, when he pulled a little out of you he could see the white ring you left around the base of his cock and he groaned as he used you to get himself off, thrusting into you a few more times before filling you up with his own cum with a grunt.

your legs felt weak, if he were to put you down now you weren't sure if you would be able to stand. so you sat there in his arms for a few minutes, both of you trying to catch your breath and come down from your high. your head was rested against his shoulder and his against your chest.

finally, eren slowly pulled out with a hiss, he was still a little sensitive. he let you step down, still holding onto him to not fall and he pulled your underwear back into place, his fingers pressing the cloth against your cunt  until he could feel his cum wetting the fabric, the squelching noises making you whimper.

"now let's go back out there," he sighed, content with the way you still gripped onto him as you pulled your shorts back up unsteadily.

"and remember who's cum you're filled with when we do."

[hareharrison]

hold me

pairing: george harrison x reader

summary: george is in the process of finishing abbey road, and has been repeatedly coming home frustrated. instead of talking to you about it, he distances himself completely, and only speaks to you in annoyance or anger, and lashes out on you. he doesn’t know how much it affects you and one day comes home to the effects firsthand.

warnings: hurt/comfort, angst, angy geo, neurodivergent reader, invasive thoughts, mental breakdown/panic attack, but it works out in the end

a/n: hayyyy ok so i wrote this as a comfort fic for myself, and i decided to post it cause why not. i struggle with intense fear of abandonment cause of bpd haha fun 😐and wanted to make it from the POV of a neurodivergent reader?? so this is like a comfort fic for ND readers?? idk if i need to put any other potential trigger warnings for this but if i do please lmk and i will fix it

year: 1969

the flat was quiet without him. to be honest, it was quiet with or without him, lately. as much as you didn’t want to admit it, george had been distant. he was always a quiet person, but he has never dismissed you this much. you knew that his job could be tiring and you tried not to overthink it, but you couldn’t help but feel bad. a voice in your head was planting horrible ideas, saying things like, “you fucked up, he doesn’t like you anymore, you’re annoying.” but still, you pushed on and tried your best to ignore the noise in your brain.

you sigh heavily and slide back into the couch. you had the next two days off of work, and nothing to do. george of course had to work on your days off, which left you alone at home. with your thoughts. it was hard getting through today, your intrusive thoughts were particularly loud... but he would be home any minute now, which brought on a bit of hope; seeing him should rid you of your own jailhoused mind.

the tv played some sitcom in front of you, which you had no interest in. all you could think about was if you ruined things. what if he was thinking of leaving you? it would be your fault... and yet you couldn’t think of a single thing you’ve ever done that might have hurt him.

the door opened gently and let in a cool draft that brushed against your warm skin. you look toward the entrance, seeing your george sigh heavily with exhaustion as he took his shoes and coat off. he looked up to you, his boldly furrowed brows softening.

“hi, love,” he says, walking toward you. you stand and approach him to greet him with a quick kiss. he holds you for a little longer than usual, and you take the opportunity to melt into his arms and breathe in his smell, something you’d been deprived of recently. he rests his chin on top of your head, which laid comfortably on his rising chest. it was moments like this that made all your worries slip away, moments like this that you wished you could cling onto forever and ever.

“how was your day?” you ask, finally leaning back to look up at him. he lets go of you and runs a hand through his long hair.

“not good,” he says, a frown on his perfectly sculpted face. you return his expression at the sight of him being sad. quickly, you remember your dinner ideas. maybe that would cheer him up.

“hey, maybe we can go get something to eat? maybe get your mind off of things?” you suggest, looking up at his brown eyes. he looks down at you, eyes full of regret.

“i’m sorry love, but i’d rather just head to bed already,” he says remorsefully. you smile softly and reassure him that it’s okay and he should get some rest. but part of you breaks inside, knowing he doesn’t want to spend time with you.

he headed upstairs and you followed, the painful ideas returning at full speed.

“you’re so annoying, of course he doesn’t want to spend any time with you. you’re so annoying and clingy,” your brain says and you flinch at the harsh thoughts. through your entire bedtime routine, thoughts flooded your mind and filled your entire being up, and you felt like you were being drowned from the inside out. george stood next to you as you both brushed your teeth, not speaking a single word to you or giving you a single glance. you changed into one of george’s t-shirts and watched as he slid out of his clothes and into his pajamas in seconds. he muttered a monotone, “good night,” before turning on his side, his back facting you.

as much as you didn’t want to, you believed the mean voices and hung your head as you got into bed next to george.

you slept back to back that night.

————————————————————

the sun seeped into your room through your windows, and invaded your bed, waking you rather unpleasantly. you groan lightly as you reached over your bed for george, but only found empty space. his side of the bed was cold, indicating that he’d been up for a while now.

you sit up slowly, rubbing your eyes as the aromas of freshly brewed coffee and morning dew hit your senses. you hear the song of the early birds chirping as your feet hit the cool floor. as you head downstairs, you can hear george on the phone, and you soon see him muttering softly before taking a long drag from his cigarette. you don’t bother him, seeing that there was paperwork on the table and his call must be business related. naturally, you decide to head for the coffee, the smell luring you in like a fish.

you poured the hot, dark liquid into your favorite mug and add in your preferred amounts of cream and sugar. looking out the window, you see water drip gently from the leaves of a tree that george and you had planted a year ago. you sip your coffee and reminisce about the times you used to actually spend time with george. how nice it was, seeing him smile so often.

you suddenly hear george raise his voice at the phone, something unlike him entirely. you jump at the unpleasant sound before peeking through the hallway to see what on earth was happening.

“no, i don’t care! i want the bloody bastard fired, in fact, tell him not to bother showing up today,” he shouts into the phone before slamming it down, placing his head between his knees and groaning in frustration. seeing george this upset and acting out on it was truly a rare sighting, and you thought carefully about what to next.

after careful consideration, you tiptoe into the room and gently rest a hand on his shoulder, the sudden contact making him flinch.

“christ, (y/n) are you trying to give me a bloody heart attack?” he grumbles before lighting another cigarette.

“sorry,” you say softly, “would you like some tea?” you figure it could calm his anger and soothe some of his abnormal irritability.

“what? tea? there’s already coffee made,” he says rudely. you take a step back, saying nothing. you know that you didn’t do anything and that this behavior would pass. george was never like this. your eyes find the time and see that george should have left ten minutes ago.

“george, you’re gonna be late to work,” you say, thinking you could at least do something helpful. his head snaps back at you and his once soft face turned hard with anger.

“what are you implying? you want me gone?” he stands up and angrily grabs all of the papers scattered on the table, shoving them into a folder and the folder into his bag, “fine, i’ll leave. im out the door.”

you look at him in confusion, you’d barely woken up and were just trying to help, “what’s the matter with you?”

“what’s the matter with me,” he repeats, looking away and scoffing. he runs his hand through his hair in frustration, “im sick of this, (y/n)! im sick of life. i come home exhausted and you have half a mind to ask me if i want to talk about it!”

“you always want to go straight to bed,” you defend yourself, hurt that he would even suggest that you don’t care about him. his dark eyes glare into your own for a moment that feels like hours, trying to think of somethig clever to say in response, but he just wasn’t ever much of a fighter. he finally chooses to put his cigarette out on the table’s ashtray and grab his coat. if you wanted him out of the house, he was more than happy to comply.

“george-“ you start.

“no,” he cuts you off, “don’t say anything right now, i can’t even look at you.” and he doesn’t, he ignores your presence entirely as he picks up his bag and walks out the door.

you’re left in the cold house, alone, hurt, and dumbfounded. you couldn’t believe what had just happened. you couldn’t believe that george, your george, had taken his anger out on you, simply for trying to help his morning be less shitty. worse than that, he thought you wanted him gone, when all you wanted was to be with him. is this how it was going to be now? a bitter, loveless relationship? your eyes sting with fresh tears at the thought, and a huge lump in your throat grows painfully. you take a deep breath before heading upstairs. you wanted anything but to cry this early in the morning, and the only reason you got up somewhat early was to see george before he left to work. now that your morning was ruined, you figured heading back to bed was the next best thing.

you climb back into your shared bed, suppressing your emotions with the warmth of your fluffy blankets and soft pillows. the comfort of a bed felt almost like a hug, and you sighed, letting the pain drift away as you fell asleep.

————————————————————

when you opened your eyes, the realization hit you. you’d slept until the sun began to set, completely ignoring your emotions, stuffing them down inside of you like an overflowing trash can. being awake made them fling right back at you; sleeping didn’t change a thing, and was only a temporary pause in your pain.

all of your feelings came back to you at once, and it once again felt like you were drowning internally. only this time, the thoughts weren’t the invasive factor. your emotions were overwhelmingly intense on top of your brain practically screaming horrible things to you. your breathing quickens as you feel tears slide down your face. this time you werent able to swallow the thick lump in your throat, and you began to weep softly.

this was it, george was leaving you. he hates you, he wants nothing to do with you. there was nothing you could do but hug your knees and cry. you choked on a sob and started rocking back and forth in attempts to try to soothe yourself. but you couldn’t stop, it felt like your entire world was falling apart. you soon began to have shortness of breath and struggled with your breathing, feeling your heart beat at an intense rate that you couldn’t control.

your bedroom door opens, revealing george’s early arrival. he immediately rushes to your side, afraid to touch you but wanting so bad to comfort you.

“(y/n)? (y/n), breathe. breathe, baby,” he takes your hand and you look at him. you aren’t sure if him being here is making the situation better or worse. seeing him try to help you stirred all kinds of feelings in your mind. you felt like you weren’t good enough for him, like you didn’t deserve his help.

george begins breathing in through his nose and out of his mouth, gently guiding you and hoping you will try to do the same. he sits in front of you on the bed and holds your face in his gentle hands. you look up into his eyes, the chocolate features of his face soothing you as your breath began to steady.

“that’s it,” he encourages.

“do you hate me?” you cry softly.

“what? no, (y/n), i’d give my life for yours, do you know that? you’re so, very special to me,” he slides over to sit beside you on the bed and wraps his long arms around you.

“why are you so distant?” you look up at him, and tears continue to roll down your flushed cheeks, “you acted so mean to me this morning, i feel like you want nothing to do with me.”

george is hurt by your words. he truly didn’t mean to be distant, and he never wanted to hurt you.

“i’m sorry,” he says, “ive been so overwhelmed i haven’t stopped to think of how you must feel. im really sorry my love i never meant to hurt you like this.” he embraces you tightly and you give into his comforting touch, wrapping your arms around his torso and digging your face into his chest. 

you take a deep breath, “i understand,” you say before looking up to him to whisper, “i miss you. i miss us.”

“i miss you too darling,” he pauses for a moment, “how about i take tomorrow off? we can do whatever you’d like.”

you sniffle, “what about the album? the deadline?” 

“i can fake sick. nothing is more important to me than you,” he says, “i want nothing more than to be with you. i love you so much.”

you smile when he presses a soft kiss to your aching head, “now how about we go have something to eat? i’m starved.”

[kaorusakurayashikiswife]

new beginnings

pairing: Kaoru Sakurayashiki x f!reader

wc: 2k

warnings: angst (not really idk); fluff; exes to lovers; not proofread

notes: first post!! I saw that there weren’t really a lot of writings for Kaoru and decided to take it upon myself to write some!! I hope you enjoy, and please do tell me if there’s a mistake anywhere or if I there’s a warning I should add

“Are you ever going to skate again?”

Kojiro grins at you, handing you your food. You were on your break from work and decided to visit your old friend from high school.

“Kojiro you know why I can’t”

“It’s been a year I’m sure everyone wants to see you skating again!” You can’t blame him for his enthusiasm, it had almost been a year after you decided to quit skating due to breaking up with Kaoru. Before you quit you were known in ‘S’ as one of the top contenders, good enough to go against Adam, you had never gone on a beef against him since you had no interest to compete against someone like him.

“C’mon (Y/N)! You know everyone wants to see the infamous RIN again! After your sudden disappearance last year your fans have been missing you, there's even a new guy you can compete against!” You leaned in to cover his mouth, you didn’t want anyone knowing the name you were under while skating in S.

“Fine! I’ll visit but I’m not competing, I just want to see the poor soul that caught Adam’s eye.”

Kojiro smiled, knowing you, you’d probably compete either way, he knew that you’d been missing skating in S after he found you practicing. Your break up with Kaoru had changed their dynamic as you wanted nothing to do with him while he regretted letting you go.

The break up was because Kaoru kept insisting to go against Adam, you knew it was a bad idea, you had tried convincing him many times that the Adam he once knew was gone. Kaoru didn't like it as Adam was very dear to him, he had snapped at you and told you that you didn’t know him and that he’d rather break up with you than listening to your nonsense. You pitied the man, you’d heard what Adam had done to him a few days prior and wanted nothing more than to slap the man for hurting Kaoru.

“You won’t regret it! I’ll see you then RIN”

You hit him again, wanting to keep your professional life and personal life separate, “Say that name again out loud and I’m not going”.

Kojiro watched as you left the restaurant, sakura keychain still in dangling out of your bag like it had been so many years ago.

“You guys really are similar in that aspect”

Once you get home you sigh, your job has been taking a toll on you and you really needed a break. You look into your closet and see your skateboard, the only reason why you quit skating is because it reminded you of him, he was the one to teach you how to skate after all. The same man who decided to leave you to chase after the memory of the friend he once knew.

Making up your mind you change into your outfit and head down the same familiar path leading to the mine.

“Yo (Y/N)! Long time no see”

“You asshole! you call me by my name here and call me by my S name in public! Do you have a death wish?” You get closer to Kojiro to give him a piece of your mind, until you see four guys next to him: two boys who look like they’re in high school, an intimidating guy with clown-looking make-up, and a little boy who you think you’ve seen on TV.

“IS THAT RIN?!?” the redhead boy yelled, it caused everyone to turn to you, you were now the center of attention, mutters about the sudden appearance of one of the most known skaters in S.

“Who’s she?”

Compared to the redhead, the blue haired guy seemed like he was new, you assumed he was the rookie that Kojiro had mentioned earlier in the day.

“She’s a really well-known skater in S! she’s beaten a lot of people here, it’s said that she’s on par with Adam, but they’ve never gone against each other!”

“damn right and never will, I like not having broken bones thank you” you muttered, as everyone calmed down, they introduced themselves and seemed intrigued to see an old face.

“I came to see the new rookie everyone’s been talking about, I’m only here to watch though” everyone’s faces dropped, they seemed disappointed to not be able to see you skate.

“Then why’d you bring your skateboard hm?” Kojiro smirks at you, knowing that you’d come here to skate a little, even if it was just for fun.

“Fine, how about this? SNOW” you pointed at Langa and motioned him to follow you, “you’re coming with me, I wanna see why everyone is talking about you” you take Langa along and decide to skate against him in the course.

“Sorry I’m late, I forgot to charge Carla earlier today so she finished charging a little later than usual” Kaoru stood next to Kojiro to see why everyone seemed more excited. “Right on time Cherry! Look who’s skating today”.

Kaoru looked at the screen, it was you, he hadn’t seen you in a year and you never bothered to answer the messages he had sent you, not that he blamed you for that. You looked just as beautiful as he remembered, if not more, the way your hair flowed freely made you look ethereal, and your face seemed to glow while you were skating, an expression he had missed seeing from you.

He wanted to apologize, after the incident with Adam that landed him in the hospital he realized that his friend was gone, no semblance of him left. While in his hospital bed he remembered the words you had told him before he broke up with you. He knew he had no right to apologize now, but seeing you at S made him realize he missed you and wanted you back, if you’d have him of course.

Langa was surprised, your style of skating was different from anything he’d seen before, it looked complicated but you didn’t seem to be struggling at all. Due to him being distracted he hadn’t realized that you’d already crossed the finish line before him.

“That was good! You knew how to snowboard before learning how to skate right?” You asked excitedly, it had been a while since you’ve had this much freedom while skating. “Yes, how’d you know?”

“I’ve always wanted to learn how to snowboard! Your stance seemed similar to those in videos I’ve seen online!”

As you walk back to the rest of the group you see him. Kaoru’s hair got a bit longer but apart from that nothing seemed too different, he still had that unapproachable aura around him. He seemed to be staring at you but you refused to look at him in the eye, you still missed him after all.

“Long time no see (Y/N)” He tried reaching out to you but you didn’t move at all, “Don’t call me that here.”

“Right, sorry Rin”

It seemed that everyone around you was aware of the tense atmosphere, although nobody really knew of what relationship you and Cherry held.

As everyone headed home, you decided to stay back and skate a little, you didn’t know when the next time you were going to be able to skate again after all. That’s when you notice it, just a little behind you were Joe and Cherry trying to catch up to you. “Rin! I thought you weren’t skating anymore?” You didn’t need to turn to see that there was a smile on his face.

“Don’t you have any fangirls to be with?” You retort, speeding a bit to gain distance from them.

“They all went home, why? You jealous?”

“As if.”

“Cherry over here wants to talk to you.”

In all honesty, you’d forgot he was even there at all, if it weren’t for Carla telling him the angles once in a while, you wouldn’t even have noticed him. You were pondering whether you should listen to what he had to say, “He’s been all gloomy ever since he saw you”. You heard someone fall, assuming it was Kojiro you kept going, he deserved it anyway.

You and Kaoru skated in silence for a bit, the only sounds heard were the wheels of both of your skateboards. As you were the first to pass the finish line you stop, getting off of your skateboard and getting ready to go back home.

“So what’d you want to talk about?”

Kojiro looks surprised, he thought you hadn’t noticed him staring at you. Frankly, he wanted to apologize and ask for a second chance, he knew he was undeserving of it though, you only wanted the best for him, but he pushed you away.

“I wanted to apologize for before, I know you meant well, but I only pushed you away when you tried helping me. I should’ve listened to what you said.”

Although it was a bit short and awkward, you knew he meant it. To be honest, you don’t blame him, he only wanted to know what had happened to his friend after he disappeared and came back with a whole different personality. You would’ve done the same if a friend whom you considered family did the same. You knew that even though he had finally come to terms with the fact that the Adam he knew in high school was gone, he was still hurting. You understood all of this, yet it was still hard to forget how angry he’d gotten at you, how he went on and on about how you didn’t know Adam at all (even though you’d been there when all four of you skated together in high school), and how he couldn’t be with someone who talked ill about his best friend. You remember how he broke up with you through a phone call after being late for a date, how you had to show up in your friend’s front door with all of your stuff, in fear of going to Kojiro’s restaurant because he was probably there.

“You didn’t need to wait a year to apologize to me” He flinched, knowing full-well what you were speaking of. He knew he had messed up the moment he ended the call, but his pride didn’t let him go back to your shared apartment to apologize to you, and he assumed that you were probably packing your bags as he headed to Kojiro’s place to drink.

“I didn’t know what to do after I went back to the apartment with your stuff gone”

“Well, I can’t just stay in my ex-boyfriend’s apartment after he just broke up with me can I?”

There was a silent pause, you were basically ready to head back home, but decided to wait to see if he had more to say. “Alright, if you’re done I’ll be heading home now.”

He quickly grabbed your wrist, stopping you from leaving, “it’s late, let me take you home”.

You declined, Kojiro had already promised you to take you back home. At the mention of his name he looked confused.

“Kojiro left a long time ago though?”

You were surprised, looking around for the tall muscle-headed idiot, but Kaoru was right, he left you behind. You were really going to kill him this time, it was probably part of his plan so you could talk things out with Kaoru.

“If it’s not too much trouble, I’d be grateful if you did then” you offered him a small smile, you had to be nice to the person driving you back to your apartment.

The ride home was silent, all he could hear were Carla’s directions to your apartment. As you got home and thanked him for the ride he stopped you again.

“Can I have another chance?” You stayed silent, he took your silence as a rejection and started his engine to leave, but this time, you were the one to stop him.

“You still owe me a meal at Kojiro’s” He blinked, confused as to what you were saying. Then he remembered, he had made you a promise that every time you beat him in S he’d buy you your favorite dish at Kojiro’s restaurant.

He smiled, frown no longer on his face after the promise of a new beginning, “Of course, tell me when you’re free to get it”.

[mettywiththenotes]

Games and Side Quests

Absolute Shiggy and Izuku brainrot tonight, so I am doing an analysis post of them. This is about their interactions and generally how they’ve perceived each other throughout the story. This post will mostly be analysis but it’s also going to be a little jokey as well, so idk prepare for that

I’m largely making this post for fun. I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while and I love to analyze them, so two birds one stone. Without any further ado

I actually find their very first interaction quite interesting

Izuku sees Tomura want to quit, and his first question is what for. Izuku is very much the analytical type, a person to wonder why and how and for what reason. So for Tomura to come into Izuku’s life and provide such an environment where Izuku doesn’t know what the hell is going on - it’s dangerous and it throws Izuku for a loop

In fact, Tomura may be the first Villain Izuku has ever observed where he doesn’t know what to think exactly, apart from panic and questions. Why is this guy here? Why is he quitting now? What was the purpose of this invasion? Why is it Game Over when it’s only just begun?

And Izuku has no answer to these questions

Personally, every time I’ve come across this scene, the logic of it never came to mind until recently. That is, in my mind, I would think the events were “Izuku, Tsuyu and Mineta observe Tomura, then Tomura attacks them”

But I never thought about how this happens

In the first screencap with Tomura, it shows that he is standing a good distance away from the kids, but not that far. Because of Mineta’s commotion, it would have been quite easy for Tomura to hear the splashing and voices behind him, even if they were just whispers. He’s quiet for a second, adding that ~dramatic pause~, but I also think thats because he’s listening. He heard the voices, he heard the splashing, and he’s found a bit of fun in his little seemingly-useless USJ mission

Tomura even points to where the kids are, as if a tiny bit of funny foreshadowing before he actually attacks

So now, I think of the events as “Izuku, Tsuyu and Mineta observe Tomura, and upon Mineta hearing that the Villains are going to leave, he raises his voice a little. Along with the group talking anyway, Tomura hears their voices and moves to attack”

The decay; Izuku first seeing this happen. Rather, first seeing it up close and personal

(Also also this probably doesn’t mean anything, but I’m pretty sure the disembodied hand closest to Izuku is Hana’s. Not sure if there’s any connection to that, but it’s interesting I think)

The first confrontation!! The first in a chain of events that will spark their story!! Don’t mind me I’m just emotional

I also like how you can see Tomura is smiling back at Aizawa after his “You really are cool, Eraserhead.” line

I’m gonna say this a lot during this post, but this interaction is interesting

Tomura notices Izuku’s power, whatever it may be (as he doesn’t know yet), is strong. Not incredibly so, but it sure does get in the way and had an impact. The kid tried to hit him with everything he had and that must stand out to Tomura, the same way any quirk would once he sees it

One thing you have to remember about Tomura is he is analytical as well. Not to the exact same extent as Izuku I don’t think (though they do mutter and have physical evidence of their observations), but it’s obvious here that Izuku has caught his eye. Maybe not in the way Tomura seeks out All Might, but it’s definitely a start

I think what makes this interesting is that they are both observing each other. Izuku, before this, was watching Tomura and wondering what he was doing, and now straight after that we see Tomura wondering out loud about Izuku’s quirk and inspiration

As well as that, Tomura quite easily dismisses Izuku within the same page. Quick as a flash he goes “Oh, that move was interesting. And you said Smash, so you’re a fan of his, right? Anyway-” and threw him aside

Even as Tomura takes that very tiny interest in Izuku, he’s not even bothered about the kid. He aims for Tsuyu and Mineta instead. Whether this is because he saw Izuku’s willingness to fight with everything he had as a potential threat or because he couldn’t give less of a shit about All Might fans, the fact is that he dismisses Izuku and turns to the other kids

Love this panel! Just the whole “opposites” thing going on

(plus it reminds me of the Void hehe)

“Uh... that one... The plain one...”

I have to laugh. Oh Tomura, you’ve no idea what’s coming lmao

“He came at me with everything he had.”

So Tomura was watching Izuku, even if it was just for that brief second. Even with someone as insignificant as him, Tomura took him into account and used Izuku as an example

Their shock at All Might heehee

More observation from Tomura. Izuku continues to catch his eye

One thing to back up the idea of Tomura thinking of Izuku as a threat is that, because of AFO simply mentioning the word “strong”/”strong as All Might”, he thinks of Izuku. Rather, he uses the word “fast” because Izuku wasn’t that strong, was he? He was just somebody in the way, and somebody with a similar power to All Might though it was not equal to the Pros strength at all

When we get to the Sports Festival, we see this panel of Tomura watching the tournament and watching the moment Izuku crosses the finish line in the first game. We don’t get a continuous thorough follow-up to this and we don’t know why Tomura is watching the game, though presumably it is to spy (if you can call “spying” watching a broadcast on television for the world to see) on the next generation Heroes and find out their quirks. It is also assumed that maybe All For One told him to watch it for this reason as well

In this room, there is evidence to Tomura having physical evidence of his observations. Above his computers, we see a map and information on what look to be different Heroes and news articles, some of which contain All Might. As well as talking to themselves and muttering, we also have the physical evidence parallel

In these screencaps, AFO says that Izuku and Shouto may become obstacles in Tomura’s path, and Tomura replies “Oh? What a load of crap...”

My line of thinking with this is that, while Tomura may have thought of Izuku as “fast” or “as fast as All Might”, there’s no real panic or even as much interest there. Sure, he wondered about Izuku’s move and that he was a fan of All Might, but he wasn’t panicked or even engaged with the kid. He focused on the mission and didn’t even glance his way unless to make a comment on “the plain one” using violence. So yes, I can see why Tomura may think it’s a bit of a joke that Izuku could be an obstacle

Notably, the kid was fast and his power was sorta similar to All Might, but in strength? No correlation. No connection. This kid is unimportant, and not worth thinking about

With that being said, Tomura also prints out a picture of Izuku after this tournament and stares at it. But we’ll get to that in a second

I would have loved to see Tomura’s reactions to Izuku’s fights or the tournament in general. All we really get are these little ominous moments (which isn’t a bad thing, as Tomura is already presented as the Villain Character so naturally he is seen as a threat) of him staring at the screen and scratching. Two moments that are shown after the Izuku vs Shouto battle are this

(this is when Bakugou just finished his match with Tokoyami and was set to have his match with Shouto. its also immediately after we are shown Kurogiri warping Stain to the hideout)

And this

(what an interesting speech bubble to put next to a Villain)

We are never shown Tomura’s continuous reaction to the tournament like we were shown with the kids or Present Mic+Aizawa, but there are two things we can glean from these screencaps alone

1) Izuku has officially caught Tomura’s eye

2) Tomura is now interested in Bakugou

Tomura: I hate this kid he is annoying and I want him to die

Also Tomura: *prints out a picture of him*

As well as Izuku, we can also see that Tomura has printed out other pictures, one of them being Bakugou in chains (that had to be where he got it from), but I don’t know what the third could have been. I can’t remember if it has been shown to us either

Anyway, down to the analysis of this part

Clearly, Tomura doesn’t like Izuku. He says so in these panels. But the very fact that he printed out a picture of Bakugou, a kid he later took as a hostage and someone he saw as a potential member of the League, tells you that he is officially interested now. It’s no longer about how fast this kid is, his strength is something else as well. Tomura watched the match with Shouto vs Izuku, he saw Izuku’s strength, his recklessness, his stubbornness (how crazy he was to break himself over and over) and that grabbed him

The Sports Festival is the very arc where Tomura starts to think (or must start to think) that Izuku isn’t just fast. He’s strong too. He’s worth looking out for. Tomura sees him as a threat now

I also want to add that the whole “printing pictures out” thing is very like... how do I put this... remember when you were a kid and you used to print out pictures that you found on the internet because you found them pretty, interesting or inspirational? Yeah. It has that kind of energy

(am I gonna get hate for that? I can’t be the only one that did this when I was a stupid kid)

Not just with Izuku but like. everything that Tomura took away from that Sports Festival; Izuku, Bakugou and whatever that third picture is. He looked at these three things and thought “yeah I gotta remember them for later”

His expression seems generally brighter too. Idk he just looks even more fixated than he was before. That kid definitely struck a chord in him

Turning to Izuku, we have this of him thinking about the League

And this

Which, actually, I find quite funny

Because Izuku is implying here that the Villains at USJ (and I can’t put this any other way) ain’t shit compared to Stain

Here is the very first evidence of Izuku knowing that Tomura lacked conviction. Tomura is nothing like Stain. Tomura has no conviction. Tomura doesn’t have the eyes of a killer (especially considering that Izuku never saw Tomura kill anyone at USJ)

It implies, very much so, that Izuku doesn’t think of Tomura as an important Villain. Scary, perhaps. Needlessly violent, sure. But without conviction, it’s not a real threat. You could almost say that Izuku may have thought of Tomura as, like All Might did, a “man-child”. Though it never says this in text, it’s the only way I can describe what Izuku may have thought of Tomura

Tomura, in USJ, was a maniac in Izuku’s eyes. Directionless, violent, absolutely no will to carry on to the bitter end in a battle. Even in the first screencaps of this post, we see Izuku criticizing Tomura’s decision to run. This is also evidence to Izuku just not understanding Tomura at all (a lead-up to the iconic Mall Scene)

The reason I find this funny tho is that I remember seeing a lot of fan work going around (comics, fanart, fanfics etc) of Izuku treating Tomura like a big threat, that he had his nefarious plot to destroy All Might and Izuku being very serious about stopping him. But the reality seems to be that Tomura wanted to give up his mission, immediately talked big when All Might appeared and Izuku thought

Not to say that Izuku doesn’t find him scary, because he does in the way that Tomura is a Villain with the potential to cause some true chaos instead of invading a little class, but we also have moments like these from the USJ

Where Izuku puts his faith so much in All Might that he (a kid who is all about being analytical) just decides that there isn’t a reason to get worried and leaves All Might to it, before jumping in and trying to save him

And then we have Izuku seeing Kurogiri as more of a threat than Tomura himself, likely because Kurogiri nearly broke All Might in half while Tomura only called upon a Noumu to do his work for him

All evidence seems to point to Izuku thinking that Tomura ain’t shit

But the fact that he comes to the assumption that Stain and the League (aka Tomura) are working together means that, now, he has a reason to be more worried. After all, Stain has the eyes of a killer, and even if Izuku thinks Tomura doesn’t, there’s still a danger in Stain joining the League. A known killer joining a “nothing” organization means there could be more killers like him hiding in the League, or at least the League has more of a potential to recruit more if they recruited THE Stain. This is what I think Izuku would think anyway

Recognition. I wonder what Tomura must have thought when Stain saved Izuku. Obviously he’d maybe be confused, definitely think that Stain did that to spite him, but I also wonder if, narratively, that could do with the whole “Izuku being worth it” thing, as Tomura comes to realize in War Arc that focusing on Izuku is worth what he could gain

So, with all this in mind... The Mall Scene! Honestly one of my favorite Tomura and Izuku scenes so far!

Notably, Tomura mentions the Sports Festival. Which, you know, would be where any Sports Festival fan would know Izuku from, but I still find it interesting considering that the Sports Festival arc is where Tomura, as a viewer, realizes that Izuku is more of a threat and/or more interesting then he lets on

He also mentions Hosu as well, maybe foreshadowing to the fact that Izuku is useful to him?

Okay so the thing that interests me greatly about the Mall Scene is that these two are actually very honest with each other. In a hostage situation, you’d think the victim would do anything to get out of it; lie, struggle, wait until a perfect opening, you know? But Izuku doesn’t do anything like that. For the reason that he doesn’t want anyone to get hurt, of course, but when Tomura asks him a genuine question, he doesn’t lie at all. In fact, he looks Tomura in the eye and gives his opinion, even though he could have seriously died. It was a very dangerous situation, yet Izuku didn’t hold back at all

The very thing I love is that Tomura chose to go to Izuku. He didn’t follow him to the mall, but he did choose to talk to him, to sit down with him, to spill his guts about his feelings, and even answers Izuku’s question honestly

In most Villain-Hero hostage/victim situations, there’s a certain give and take where one side of the two has more power than the other, where one of them chooses what they say very carefully for fear they will die or get caught

But in this case, Izuku spills the hot piping tea on what he thinks of Tomura. Tomura spills his guts about his feelings. They both answer each other’s questions honestly

But see, here’s how I view the scene

They both see each other as potential threats. Izuku is both fast and strong, like All Might, and Tomura saw that during the Sports Festival. Tomura is a maniac, violent, and anybody with those attributes is capable of doing some real damage, but the only thing he lacks is the conviction he needs, which would actually convince Izuku that he is a very real threat that can’t just be stamped down by All Might

Tomura, in the mall, is toying with Izuku. He’s out on a walk, trying to work out his thoughts, when he comes across the kid and thinks “Why not? Why not have a little fun?” and takes the kid hostage

We have to remember that Izuku thinks Tomura “ain’t shit”, especially because at the USJ, Tomura didn’t kill anybody and had to get his Noumu to do all the work. It’s kind of the same with the Stain-League assumption that they were working together during that attack, that Izuku would have likely thought Stain was someone for Tomura to send out instead of doing the work himself

But here, Tomura is saying, plain as day “I will kill them, 20- no, I could take 30 out.” and either Izuku could think he’s bluffing or that this statistic is backed up by experience

Either way, Izuku’s not going to challenge it if it means others could get hurt. So he agrees to talk

Izuku saw the danger in a known Villain joining the League, but now that it’s confirmed to have been wrong, Izuku doesn’t have much to worry about. After all, the League is just a “nothing” organization, right? ....... right?

Tomura asks an honest question, one he’s been thinking about since he left for his walk. Izuku answers it

And here is the clear-as-day evidence of Izuku not understanding Tomura

Izuku says Stain is destructive, but at least he’s doing it for a reason. This suggests he sees Tomura as, like I said, a maniac who uses violence recklessly and needlessly, and that scares him (as it would anyone). Tomura is scary to Izuku, but not in the “you’re a real threat” way. Tomura has the potential, but no real drive, and that’s exactly what Izuku says here

More than anything, Izuku suggests that Tomura treats it like a game to pass the time. Using violence needlessly but quitting whenever he wants to, and Izuku notices the gaming references as well to back this up

When I think about how Izuku acted in this entire scene, it makes me wonder if this was his thought-process: “I’ll answer the question and do what he says because he’s just a Villain who will get caught in the end. Doesn’t matter if I struggle or not, he will get caught just like he would have been in USJ had it not been for that warp guy. And the warp guy isn’t here now, not that I can see, so Shigaraki has nowhere to escape. If I just stay and listen to him, a Hero will come. I’ll answer his question because he won’t hurt me, he couldn’t even kill All Might at USJ. Plus, he wouldn’t want to alert all these people, right? He’ll get caught easily that way.” or something along those lines anyway

Point is, I think Izuku is scared because of the threat Tomura potentially poses, but the way he answers him so honestly, I can’t think of it as anything other than a kid that thinks so less about this Villain that he would look him in the eye and tell him what he really thinks despite the situation

I honestly don’t think Tomura was expecting Izuku to be so honest with him. I think he was expecting to get his feelings out, maybe scare the kid, but not for Izuku to look him in the eye and say he’s got no ideals or direction

And that makes him mad

It’s a hard pill to swallow, and as quick as he gives that dangerous look to Izuku, he’s swallowing said pill and taken in what he said

The funny thing is, Izuku’s hot piping tea was that Tomura lacked conviction. He knew this anyway, he didn’t see him as big of a threat as he looked, he mostly seemed to chalk him down as a Villain that could be taken away by removing the lackey that bodyguarded him. Izuku even tells him, straight up, “you lack ideals” so very honestly you’d think he was crazy to do so if it weren’t for the fact that Izuku doesn’t perceive Tomura as an incredible threat

But in the end, Izuku gave Tomura the conviction he needed in order to become the biggest threat in the world. Actually, he accidentally inspired Tomura to form his conviction, and now because of this exact moment, we have a possessed fusion god flying around

(how does it feel to be the catalyst of a domino effect, Izuku?)

This is a moment that changes Izuku’s opinion of him from “potential threat if you worked harder and weren’t such a coward” to “uh holy shit you have a conviction crap uhhh I take it back I tAKE IT BACK-”

This is a very serious sequence of panels but literally the way Tomura says “I’m glad we had this chat! Thanks Midoriya! I’m heading down the right path for me!” sounds so much like Izuku gave him advice on his problems, and that’s actually what happened lmao

(whats also interesting is that Tomura plays the “friend” role throughout the Mall Scene. Tells Izuku to “pretend I’m an old friend”, sit like close buddies next to each other on the bench, Tomura even thanks him like a friend would after being given advice)

Again, this is very serious, but to me it looks like Tomura pulls on Father to trick Izuku into thinking he has a weapon “so you have to play along and don’t cause a scene or else people will die”, but Izuku is so panicked that he’s like “NO LISTEN LOOK I’M GOOD I’M OKAY URARAKA SO STAY BACK HAHA EVERYTHING IS OKAY”

So Tomura has to let go and act like a Good Old Pal so Uraraka doesn’t call the Heroes

Introducing: My favorite panel lol. And I’m including it for the opposite energies they have, but also because I like it. There’s also the continuation of Good Friend Tomura behaving like a Good Friend who ran into his Good Old Pal Izuku Midoriya at the mall for a friendly chat. Tomura understood the assignment lmao

Anyway, Izuku actually asks a question back

And Tomura answers honestly. The reason I think this is because Tomura has never lied, throughout the series he is always honest. Maybe he twists words and meanings - doesn’t reveal the whole truth - but he never outright lies to anyone. And here is no different

Fated enemies. Tomura says it himself; it’s fate, it’s destiny, it’s inevitable

There is the chance in this sentence that suggests “if you meet me again” but I think it’s more of a promise than anything. 1) Because Tomura does meet Izuku again and 2) Tomura seems to tie Izuku to fate, which I will get to later

After this moment, it’s clear that this interaction has inspired him

Izuku inspired that conviction in him. All he had to say was “you lack conviction and thats the difference” and Tomura instantly came to his own conclusions. Izuku never meant to make him think about All Might and the fragility of society, but those words he spoke as he looked in his eyes triggered the spark that lit Tomura’s flame

These two now have one more shared parallel, aside from the mutterings and the physical evidence of observation; their convictions involve All Might. It’s all about All Might

One observation I want to talk about, before I get into everything after this scene, is that I think Tomura sees Izuku as a gam

I don’t know how to put this.... he sees Izuku as an NPC to toy with during his free time in a game. The NPC to push around and play with before a quest starts or because he is bored. I mean, look at what he did; he chose to go after Midoriya in the mall, scare the shit out of him, all presumably for fun (thats what it looked like anyway) to see what his reaction would be

To me, it looks like Tomura did have his fun with this little extra. At the same time, this little extra also gave him some useful information, highlighted in bright text and everything. Clear as day to help him on his quest. He didn’t realize this NPC could inspire him and he went on to complete level after level because of this information

(have I made enough gamer references yet? lol)

Anyway, so Everything After This Scene is just little moments before the big War Arc

First evidence of Izuku thinking about Tomura’s words and considering them. Not to the extent he does in the current arcs, but it’s a start

And then we have the disaster of the Training Camp Arc, where we have Tomura’s “game plan” changing due to conviction - he has more of an idea of what he wants now

We also have this

Where we learn that Izuku is still on the kill list, obviously. (I gotta know; did Tomura show the League the pic? does he still have it??)

Then we have this moment here, which still puzzles me to this day

Cuz why did she get Izuku’s blood? Did Tomura need it? Why would he have been thrilled? Was there supposed to be a specific use for it, or was it a “just in case we need it” thing? These are the real questions. Reveal the answers to me Horikoshi

In the Overhaul Arc, Izuku is now terrified by the League and what they can do. We’ve come a long way since him not thinking of Tomura as a big threat

“Tomura”, huh? Look guys they’re already friends, they’re on a first name basis😌 lmao

Jokes aside, we now enter War Arc, where there is just SO MUCH going on with these two

All the way from the iconic Mall Scene, the scene where Izuku finally realizes just how much of a threat Tomura actually is, especially since he left being inspired by what Izuku told him. Now it’s come full circle, where now he is experiencing the true terror of Tomura Shigaraki

Not only that, but Izuku is remembering the decay explanation from the Mall Scene. He saw the effects of decay on Aizawa during the USJ despite not having the explanation back then, yet he specifically looks back on the Mall Scene to supply that information. Idk I find that interesting, but also Its The Trauma

Looking up the mountain, looking down the mountain (they are connected)

At this point, Izuku knows who is at the top of that mountain, whereas Tomura doesn’t know who has One For All yet

See, Tomura has Search, which means at this moment here, he is following the brightest quirk he can see which is One For All

At this point, he’s only following

But then as he flies down the hill, getting closer and closer to the quirk

He has this look of almost fondness. Like he’s just realized something. If he’s looking at the quirk and saying that, it can’t be anything but him realizing that Izuku has One For All as he gets closer

Also the biggest evidence to this is that “Must be fate.” is a callback to the Mall Scene!!

“Something like fate... or destiny, maybe...”

It’s because of this that I believe Tomura associates Izuku with fast, strong like All Might, and now he associates him with the word “fate” as he has used it twice now with the kid

And look at that smile. When I first read this, I thought Tomura would be shocked to learn that Izuku had One For All. But he’s not even surprised, he just smiles like this is what was meant to happen. As I said before, they are fated, it’s destiny, it’s inevitable

Tomura just rolls with that. He doesn’t reject it, didn’t even reject it before, and neither does Izuku. They cross paths and that’s just how it is, like it’s expected

And now, suddenly, the NPC he’s ran into a few times is more important than he thought. He was having fun before, he was bored and playing around with the kid, but now the big reveal has come where the NPC that was so boring and plain is secretly the person he needs to complete his quest

Again I’m just kind of like. marveling at how far they’ve come because Tomura went from dismissing Izuku and not seeing him as an actual threat to now deliberately going after him. It’s a little thing but I still like it

And I love this battle personally because they just keep connecting in odd ways that are both as people and as enemies. I don’t know how else to describe it other than that

Because you have honest moments like these

Staring at each other like “what was that??”

Tomura telling Izuku he won’t forgive anyone

“What’s the date today...?”

This back and forth that I can’t take seriously because Tomura is seriously out here threatening to send Izuku and the other Heroes to Heaven of all places, all with that grin on his face

Tomura looking genuinely scared here which. again, a far cry from USJ when he dismissed Izuku entirely, teased him and generally treated him like an extra in a game. Now he’s getting pummeled by the kid who wasn’t a threat. “That plain one” is now kicking his ass

I don’t know how else to describe them other than honest. Vulnerable, maybe. There’s clearly a connection there that separates them from any other Tomura-Hero interaction

This is definitely the arc that changes Tomura though

Here we see the convictions he’d built up over the course of the story almost shattering by his own word. Because his conviction was to destroy All Might and show the world how fragile the system is, but the thing is the Heroes don’t pay attention. There’s no showing and there’s no telling, because they simply don’t get it

The consequence of Izuku’s advice was a conviction that Tomura built up on his own, yet now in this battle that involves Izuku, that conviction is being torn down because no one is listening. They don’t understand and they don’t want to understand. It’s the dichotomy of it all

Even when this speech is the clearest Tomura could ever be about what grinds his gears, they won’t listen. They won’t understand. Izuku doesn’t understand, and seemingly never will

I find this kind of a contrast to the Mall Scene, as Tomura is once again venting to a Hero(es) about his issues, yet nobody pays attention to what he is actually saying

And it is at this point he gives up on convincing the world. He loses his conviction. Now he’s in it to destroy, because what else can he do if they won’t listen? He’ll fight of course

This time there is no “advice” or questions. There are only statements and graves to dig deeper. Again, this is a big contrast, because the Mall Scene was such an honest scene, where both of them were talking to each other. Despite it being one-sided physically, they both talked and they both answered each other’s questions

Now? They say they can’t forgive each other. Not that they even would before, but it’s a short conversation set in stone, and they are shut off from the other

At the same time, we have Izuku accepting his own fate here. OFA was manifested to stop dreams of destruction, and it’s here where there is another “set in stone” moment

I would say this is also an honest/vulnerable/whatever-you-wanna-call-it moment. The fear, or you could say shock, in Tomura’s eye as Izuku goes berserk. Once again... same kid from USJ, guys. We’ve come very far

I also? cannot describe this?? The look on Tomura’s face is vulnerable, satisfied at getting the quirk, and tired. It’s a look that kind of says “There’s no use attacking, I’ve already won”

But as they enter the Void, it’s like a beacon of light in such a dark place. The tone shifts and you can feel it

THIS is the moment things change. Everything from before falls apart. The damage is done, the hate is the same, there is still no forgiving what has been done, but there is a connection so bright, it’s hard to miss

Here, as he is struggling, Tomura looks at Izuku. He’s talking to All For One, he should be looking at All For One, but he looks up... and Izuku is there, staring right back at him

That look is very much the “You looked like you needed help” moment. Even before you get the reveal of that in 295, it’s here, plain as day in the framing, the angle, the way they (especially Izuku) look at each other

This is the moment that changes everything about Izuku’s understanding of Tomura. It doesn’t change what Tomura has done and it doesn’t explain why Tomura did the things he did, but it’s clear now that he isn’t just “doing it for fun”

There are no gaming references, no retreating, no falling back. This battle had callbacks to USJ but we aren’t in USJ anymore. This is now Izuku looking at Tomura and seeing the truth; that the Villain before him is hurting and being used

Izuku sees him being strangled and leaps to stop it, and you can see that there really is a sort of compassion in his eyes (at least in the first screencap) that says “I want to help you. I don’t want you to get hurt anymore”

This dialogue can be taken two ways

1) Please don’t start moving again because I want you to stop hurting people

2) Please don’t start moving again because I don’t want to hurt you more than I already have

It can even be taken as both. That Izuku just wants this all to stop, for Tomura’s sake and everyone else’s

TomurAFO pushing Izuku away, and his hand spasming

This is more of a personal theory/headcanon, no evidence to it, but I wonder if the hand was spasming because Tomura was trying to gain control again. Like, AFO took control and pushed Izuku away, then Tomura tried to get his control back, hand still extended as if reaching out towards the kid, but then being taken over by AFO and simply watching as Izuku falls

(thats just a small theory though. i am in denial)

I also can’t get it out of my mind that Tomura’s hand lingered in the air as if reaching out for Izuku, then drawing it back, and then Izuku doing the exact same thing

Like a small weak gesture of “No, come back”

Izuku’s look of distress

TomurAFO watching him but also it looks like a sort of acceptance, the way his head is bowed down

It’s such a sad turn of events and it really tugs on the heart strings

To go from an interaction where Tomura dismisses Izuku and Izuku can’t think of Tomura as anything serious... to Izuku racing to help Tomura while he’s in peril?

All I gotta say is

STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM

NOW WE HERE

And then AND THEN we now get Izuku fighting for Tomura

A WILD CONCEPT given the beginning of the story but nonetheless so very good

Izuku is literally standing on the edge of a decision he has to make, something he must do or could do

Izuku saw Tenko. He saw Tomura, the one underneath all the hatred. And that’s what Tomura has been doing this entire time; crying out for help

How ironic is it that Tomura gave up trying to convince the world that the system was broken in the same arc Izuku realizes that Tomura has been hurting because of the system he’s protecting?

Izuku is so calm as he speaks. This page really shows how that encounter in the Void changed his view on Villains, or maybe he’s been thinking about this for a while now, given the way he speaks. The point is, he’s seeing the choices he could have made, the ones he may have regretted making and the ones he didn’t

Izuku sees Tenko. He sees him

And the shadows fluctuate around him, for the first time ever forming a mouth. He means what he speaks and he says it with conviction

The more he talks, the more he becomes the little boy who saved because he could and it was right, the one who takes the very essence of what All Might taught and fights for peace

And Izuku once again spills the hot tea, but this time he does it FOR TOMURA! INSTEAD OF AGAINST HIM!

In this scene, Izuku is inspired and gains a conviction because of what happened to Tomura! He was always going to be somebody who saves, but the fact that sentiment has now extended to Villains thanks to what happened to Tomura is amazing!

These two inspired each other’s convictions!!

Even through the Rogue arc, Izuku continues to think about Tomura and what he said

(ah!! he said the thing!!)

It’s nice to see as well that Izuku still isn’t forgiving Tomura for what he’s done. He wants to save him but that doesn’t mean he can just let everything go

A HERO THAT SAVES NO MATTER WHAT! WE LOVE TO SEE IT!

And now, as the story continues, we have another parallel; Izuku and Tomura are each other’s side quests

Don’t get me wrong, Tomura’s main mission is to destroy Hero Society and teach the Heroes a lesson (or at least cause destruction) and Izuku’s mission is to stop All For One and save as many people as possible

But see, in the War Arc, Tomura caused chaos among Hero Society while also focusing on getting Izuku’s One For All

In Izuku’s Rogue arc, we have him seeking out All For One to stop him while also focusing on finding Tomura

The main mission hasn’t changed much, but now they seek each other out when available

In a mall

In the middle of a battlefield

During the fall of Hero Society

They keep searching for each other, and though they are still committed to the impact they want to achieve, there is always that one spark of inspiration they give each other. For Izuku to help anybody, for Tomura to find his own purpose

In conclusion................. I love them and I love their development with each other

Thank you very much for reading this far. I’m sorry this is so long. I have many feelings about these two, as usual

When are they going to interact again, I miss them so much